Online-Offline
by Tassie Taker
Summary: She wasnt sure if meeting these people she only knew from behind her computer screen was a good or bad idea. - AU, real world style. Based on RPG gaming/guild meeting in real life pretence. NaLu (mild Gruiva, Jerza, Gale.)
1. Online

_A/N: I'm still brainstorming the fight scene I have planned for my other Fairy Tail fanfic but this idea has been swimming around for awhile and I figured, why not? I think there is another RPG style fic out there, but from memory I think it is GrayxLucy not NatsuxLucy... I didn't read it so... *shrug*_

* * *

She slammed her bedroom door shut with a thud, slamming the lock and throwing her backpack on her bed, it landing with a thud, some of the school books slipping out of the open zipper, but she paid it no mind, hitting the on switch of her computer tower with her foot as she rushed passed, ripping off her school uniform and re-dressing in a tee and jeans, something so much more comfortable than the stuffy blazer and the perfectly pleated dress. Sighing in exasperation as she sat on the bright pink computer chair, pulling herself inwards, grasping the equally pink headset and thrusting it on.

"_I'm so late!"_

She inwardly cursed as her computer had decided this very moment to boot everything up extra slowly, double clicking an icon on her desk top with such furiously that she almost hurt her finger on the mouse, but she clicked the "connect" button with the same pressure, pulling her keyboard out on its draw, barely bothering to look at the usernames that flashed up on the small window before clicking one of the titles that separated the voice chat rooms, pounding the password allowing her entry before relaxing slightly at the happy little sound that said she had logged in successfully. There were a few static pops that followed it, leading her to assume someone had been talking when she logged in.

"Ah!" A male voice rang out in her headset "Please let that be you, Stell!" the voice was eager and excited, and never failed to bring a smile to her face, even if she would _never_ tell him that.

"Maybe if you actually looked at the chat once and awhile you wouldn't have to ask."

She took a sharp intake of breath at the new voice, also male, and slightly deeper, _"Great, they're already at it."_

"Sorrryyy~ some of us don't have six billion windows open at the same time, Snow-Cone."

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me!"

She typed a hello into the chat window that sat covering her game screen. If any of her friends knew she spent most of her evenings, and weekends, playing an online roleplaying game she'd never be able to live it down, she wasn't even sure how she'd gotten so "into" the game herself, the game had been a gift to her father from one of his business associates, and he had handed it on to her, games were for children, not for serious business men, needless to say he had broken all contact from that particular associate after that gift. She had been bored one Sunday afternoon and decided to give the game a try, it wasn't long during her exploration and, even if she didn't want to admit it at the time, fun, that she had met the young man that was still currently yelling childish insults over the chat to his "rival", she had been having trouble with a quest of some sort, and he had come bursting in, killing everything in sight (and destroying most of the destroyable structures that sat in the game zone) before profusely apologizing for killing the monster she had needed, and offered to wait around and help when it respawned, she had joined the overly enthusiastic boys guild not long after. Well, after he had explained it was a social group of people that helped each other out. It wasn't even a whole week before the group people that played under the guild name "Fairy Tail" had her at the maximum character level and some of the best gear the character class she had picked could gain. Finding herself constantly entering dungeons and taking down group monsters with the same boy that had gotten her to join and the other two players he seemed to group with the most, even if he did claim to hate one of them, a sentiment that was apparently mutual. Becoming an "official" raiding group of four (five, if you were a certain _someone_ that insisted his cat was part of the group) under the guild not three months after she had joined and started playing.

"Enough!"

A crisp and commanding female voice chirped out over the boys bickering, and the sound died out instantly.

"You are rather late, Stellar." _StellarHime, _that was her character name, her father would likely kill her if she had ever given out her real name over the internet.

"Yeah, I know, I, _uh, _got held up after class."

It wasn't a complete lie, she had stayed back a little later than normal at school due to her best friend needing a hand carrying the stupid amount of library books she had taken out back to the library, but as soon as she had gotten home her father had called her into his office to introduce her to another one of his business partners and "his son that is around your age." The teen had been blonde and kind of attractive, but he had the same "rich-boy" air around him that had turned her off every single "son around your age" that her father had seen fit to introduce her too. Being as polite as she could be while desperately wanting to be up in her bedroom logging on to the game and being able to start off on the dungeon run that the group had planned a week in advance. Only being able to get away when she had unzipped her backpack, pulled out one of her larger school books and claimed she had a ton of homework, the excuse worked well enough, but she didn't really want to tell her "online friends" about the issues she had with her father and his constant attempts and trying to get her to date a boy he deemed good enough. Though she knew none of them ever believed her whenever she said she was just "held up after class". There was a long quiet pause that made her shift in her seat anxiously, accepting the group invite that _Titania _had sent her.

"Well, you are here now."

"We can get started now! Woo!"

She laughed: "Someone is eager, 'Mander."

A pink haired dragon-like humanoid jumped up and down before her own human character on the screen, the name _Salamander_ floating above his head.

"Yeah! I've been looking forward to this!"

As if to emphasize the point, the pink haired character shot flames up into the air on her screen.

"Don't wreak the place before we actually start."

Another human like character appeared next to them, _Crystallos, _or Crys as they referred to him chirped up once more over the voice chat.

"Dude! Your character has no gear on again!"

"God damn it!"

She laughed, it was fairly common for Crys' character to pop up somewhere without any armour or clothing on, she wasn't sure if it was some kind of glitch that _only his_ character had, or if he, for some reason, took it off without realising.

"Hurry up; I'm at the first boss."

Even though she had been grouping with the other female of the group, Tita, or _Titania,_ for a few months now, she was still in awe whenever she heard, or saw, the plain looking character take out a hundred or so monsters around the max level on her own, she could likely take down the boss by herself, too, but often waited for the rest of the group to join her. Even if the group was odd and, in some cases, scary, she had found herself strangely open to these people she only knew through a computer screen and a headset. She didn't know their real names, nor their faces, only their voices and the pixelated characters that represented them.

She made sure to close her microphone off when she gave a loud groan, as much as she liked the group, it was _seriously_ hard to be their healer, more so when at the last boss of the dungeon run they had destroyed all that could be in the dungeon and she was constantly trying to keep the little red bars that signified their health that kept going down from the bosses attacks and the debris that fell on them, while watching her own little blue bar that showed how much magic she had left. The boss fell, and the items that it dropped were given out and she was almost going to announce it had been a good day due to the armour piece that had dropped that her character could use until the eager voice of 'Mander spoke up;

"Hey guys. I think we should meet."

* * *

_A/N: Working out a username for Gray was stupidly hard, I ended up translating Ice into different languages until I found something I like, so Crystallos, is along the lines of ice, rock crystal, crystal-ware in Latin. _


	2. StellarHime and the Salamader

She did not want to be doing this, but at the same time, she did. As much as she had been scared at the initial suggestion, she had constantly found her feelings fighting with themselves, one moment she was completely scared at the thought of meeting people that had only _said_ they were in their teens and lived in the same area as she did, and then excited to meet these people she felt she knew so well.

"_Come on guys! It's not a bad idea. Most of the other groups have met up!"_

The words from a week ago echoed through her head as she walked through the streets, her backpack slung over her shoulder, filled with food;

"_Hmm, that is true. Their play-style has benefited from it. The Raijinshū's defiantly did."_

It was just a picnic, she tried to convince herself, a picnic with friends, friends she'd never met before and that might actually be fifty year old creepy men in disguise.

"_If you call Jutsu's fawning over Lumen an improvement…"_

She shifted the bag on her shoulder, her legs shaking as to whether or not she should turn around, but it was already too late, her father had dropped her off already, and had driven off to whatever work meeting he claimed to have that Saturday morning, and the large tree that they had all arranged to meet at was already looming over her.

"_Heh! Then it's settled! Next Saturday! Oh, uh, I might have to bring someone with me though."_

The park was kind of empty, which was surprising, South Gate Park was popular and the day was nice, there was loads of shade due to the large tree and a playground that kids just seemed to go crazy over, herself included when she was younger. She took a tentative look over at the tree, trying to remember the vague descriptions that they had given each other, but only one popped into her mind.

"_I'll be easy to see! I look like my character!"_

Yes, sure he did, because pink hair was so very normal, why there was a teen boy leaning on the tree over there with…pink…hair. She blinked quickly, just in case her mind was playing tricks with her, but no, leaning on the trunk of the large tree, dressed in a black hoodie, red shirt and black cargo pants was a teen boy, maybe a little older than she was, with rosy pink hair, his hands in the pockets of the hoodie, absentmindedly looking at a young girl that was running around the playground, her bright _blue_ hair in piggy tails.

"Natsu! Natsu!" The young girl called out in his direction as she climbed up on the monkey bars; "Watch me!"

The girl climbed up onto the first bar, before pulling herself upwards and hooking her legs around the next bar so she was hanging upside down, and she was completely sure she was having a heart attack right then and there, the boy moved off the tree;

"Do a flip!"

"_He just tell the girl to, do a flip?! Wait, I know that voice…" _The little girl gave a giggle, before pulling herself upwards so she could sit on top of the bar, swinging her legs back and forth. She moved in closer, her hands gripping on the strap of her backpack, what was she supposed to say? She opened her mouth to say something, or maybe she was just going to cough and try to get his attention, but he turned and looked at her and she found herself staring into the most expressive dark eyes she had ever seen.

"_Uhh, _Hi?"

"_Uhmm…_I-"

His face flew into a large grin even though she'd barely uttered a syllable, and she found herself taken into a strangely comforting hug.

"Stell!" He pulled out of the hug and smiled at her once more, his head cocking slightly as he did so. "I was starting to worry that no one else was coming!"

"…Yeah…" She was still at a loss for words, the hug had taken her off guard, not to mention that, once the shock of rosy pink hair had worn off, the guy she had always known just by voice and an odd looking dragonish character was actually, kind of, maybe a little, cute. He gave her a slight nudge with his elbow when she continued to look down at the ground.

"Not like you to be so shy."

That was kind of true, she had no troubles meeting new people and expressing herself, but…

"I've never done this kind of thing before… met people I know online, I mean."

"Me either. But, we know each other right? No reason to be worried!"

She gave a small giggle, even in real life he was so naïve.

"Natsu~"

They both glanced over to the monkey bars where they blue haired little girl was climbing down, her long hair trailing out behind her as she happily skipped along, and she tugged at the boys hoodie when he didn't say anything at first.

"_Uh, _right. This is my little sis', Wendy. Wendy this is -"

"Lucy, I'm Lucy."

The little girl gave her a charming smile that was similar to the one her older brother had given her not moments before;

"It's nice to meet you, Lucy!"

Lucy watched as he gave the young girl a slight nudge with his large hand; "We're still waiting for more people, go play some more." She gave him a bright reply before running back to the playground, making a b-line for the slide.

"Lucy, huh?" She went right red; she had just given her real name. "Suits you better than Stellar, Luce'."

"Luce'?"

"I could always call you Luigi instead." He gave a playful smirk. "My real name is Natsu, but you could still call me Salamander if you like."

"I figured, Wendy was yelling it out kind of loud… I didn't know you had a little sister."

"Yeah. I mentioned her once and Dad kinda freaked out. He doesn't want me talking about her online."

This struck Lucy as kind of odd, the tension suddenly gone as they both eased down to the ground, sitting while facing the playground, both watching the young girl whom was running around with complete glee.

"How come?"

"Dad's a cop. He's seen and heard some bad stuff, so he kinda goes a bit overboard sometimes."

"Wait… You've been arrested at least three times and your Dad is a police officer?"

There had been a few times when she had gotten an in game mail sent to her from the mobile app that the allowed you to send messages to people in game, it normally read the same; _"Been arrested, gonna be grounded for the rest of my life for sure. I'll miss you Stell!"_

"_Ahaha,_ yeah…"

"You never did tell me what you've gotten arrested for."

"Oh, nothing really. I've broken into the school a couple of times, been in some fights."

"Do I want to know why?"

"Got bored."

She gave a short laugh before shaking her head; she'd always known him to be a little bit crazy whenever he got bored, he'd been banned from the game more times than she could count for causing other players grief during his boredom, but she didn't know it was _quite_ that bad in real life. He rubbed the back of his head absentmindedly.

"Papa always gets really mad when he's woken up in the morning and called into the station to find out he's only been called in to pick up Natsu!"

Wendy's voice chimed out from the playground, the slide forgotten, as she was down climbing around on the jungle gym.

"It's not like I try to get caught."

Lucy didn't know why, in any other circumstance she would have likely been afraid of the boy sitting next to her, he did have that "delinquent" look to him, even if he was super cute, and the news of a criminal record would have been enough for her to turn heal and run the other way. But something about him put her to ease; maybe it was his blunt honesty that had carried from his actual being through the computer screen. Or the smile, it could very likely of been the smile.

"Maybe you should think of something else to do when you're bored then."

Natsu's face deadpanned, "You can't say you've never thought of that." He gave a shy little laugh and Lucy found the palm of her hand square in her face.


	3. Mothers

Lucy finally slung the backpack of her shoulder, carefully setting it down as not to crush the stupid amount of food that the house keeper that her father employed had packed for her when she had told them she was going on a picnic with friends. She glanced around, thinking of putting her pack next to Natsu and Wendy's, but frowned when she couldn't see one.

"Didn't you bring anything?"

"Natsu ate it already! Mama had made Éclairs. He ate them last night!" Wendy's voice echoed from the playground, a slight teasing tone colouring her words.

"It's not my fault Grandeeney's Éclairs are so good!"

Lucy frowned again;

"You call your Mom by her real name?"

Natsu looked at her a little confused; "_Huh…?_" Realisation flooded his face; "Oh! Well, Wendy and I are only really half siblings, but I don't like introducing her like that, it kinda sounds like I only care for her half as much, it's not that it really matters who her parents are anyway, she's always gonna be my lil' sis'. My Mom died when I was little, I don't really remember her, Dad remarried when I was about eight and then Wendy was born when I was nine. I've just never really wanted to call Grandeeny 'Mom', that's all."

"That makes sense… I don't suppose I'd want to introduce anyone as my half sibling either."

"What about you… do you have any siblings, Luce'?"

Lucy shifted a little on the ground, she didn't really want to bring the topic up, but Natsu had already been so open about his mother, so…

"No… my Mom died too…"

"How old were you?"

"About nine…"

"Ah, Luce', sorry…" Natsu looked a little flushed; "I shouldn't have asked." But she gave him a small smile;

"No, it's ok. I just miss her a lot, is all."

Natsu placed his arm around Lucy's shoulders and it caused her to give a little jump, but he gave her shoulder a light squeeze anyway, the simple action somehow bringing her out of the dark thoughts about her mother and back into the moment at hand.

"I wanna ask… does your family have a thing about dying your hair bright colours?"

"It's natural."

Lucy had wanted to laugh, but had been unable to when she saw the indignant look on Natsu's face, catching a similar look from Wendy whom had moved in closer from the playground, seemingly sick of having the equipment all to herself.

"I... I've just never met anyone with that hair colour being natural… I mean, I know people who've died their hair blue and stuff, but…"

"It's some kind of medical thing..."

"Gene Mutation, Natsu." Wendy had sat herself down close to the older two, crossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap, pushing the skirt on her dress downward. "They think Papa has something in his genes that caused us to have strange hair colours."

"_Uh, _I see…"

Lucy sighed, things were uncomfortable again. She turned back to the boy beside her, only to find him inching towards her backpack; "Natsu, what are you doing?"

"I'm hungry." He got a hold of the pack and pulled it closer; "What did 'cha bring?!" He zipped it open only to have Lucy tackle his arms and the pack, attempting to pull it away from him;

"Natsu! It's rude to look though a girl's bag!"

"But I'm starrrrrvvvinnnnggg~"

"You're always hungry." Wendy had joined in the fray, attempting to help Lucy pull the bag away from her brother's strong arms. Laughter over taking the girl as he had realised a hand on the bag and had started tickling her, glaring at Lucy with a playful glint.

"No! Don't you dare!"

Laughter echoed around the park as the three playfully wrestled, tickling each other when they each got the chance. None of them noticing the dark blue eyes from the figure that stood not too far away,

"_Man, he's such a child…"_

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_A/N: Thanks for all the fave's and follows guys! Big hugs for you! There was something I forgot to mention in the first chapter about "Crys'" strange armour removing habit, In my own WoW (World of Warcraft) guild there was an old guild mate of mine whom would actually take his gear of at random moments, I thought that was just an interesting titbit._


	4. Crystallos

"Time out! Time out!"

Lucy's ribs hurt from laughter, and judging from the panting that was coming from Natsu and Wendy both they felt the same way. Lucy playfully snatched the pack from Natsu's reach while he was still recovering from the effects of the "tickle fight", and poked her tongue in his direction when he made a pouty face. She was supposed to be uncomfortable with all of this, she was just meeting this guy for the first time face to face and yet she had just rolled around on the grass with his younger sister as if they had known each other for years, and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to care or not, life was weird.

"Come on, Luce'. Just gimme something!"

"No, you can wait till Crys and Tita get here."

"Oh, seriously! That bag is so heavy, you must of brought tons, I can just have something, pleassseee~"

"You always have thought about your stomach more than anything else, Flame-Head."

The new voice made them all turn; standing behind the group, not a few feet away was a boy in his late teens, a messenger-style bag slung on his side, dressed in a simple white shirt and black slacks. One of his hands was hooked around the black strap of the bag, a silver bracelet that sat there shining in the sun, while the other sat in one of the pants pockets, a stylized cross sitting on large chain that seemingly matched the bracelet sitting around his neck and on his chest. Messy dark hair sat on his head, but it had a healthy shine to it, dark blue eyes watching the group with icy intensity.

"At least I _have_ thoughts, Snowman."

Lucy gave a light scoff; of course Natsu meeting_ Crystallos_ in the flesh wasn't going to be any different than then them being online.

"Ha, if you call 'what am I going to eat next' a thought."

The new comer swiftly pulled the bag off his shoulder and placed it down on the ground, lazily sitting down next to it, ignoring the comeback that Natsu had flung at him, turning to Lucy, a small smile on his lips.

"Stellar, right?"

"_Hey! Don't ignore me, Slanty-Eyes!"_

"Y-Yes!"

Lucy smiled back at him, damn it, of course Crys had to be attractive, too, it wasn't the same kind of attractiveness as Natsu, sure, she could see herself falling into those dark blue eyes with ease, but there just wasn't that same, _something._ He gave her a curt nod before turning to Wendy, who seemed to give a jolt like hiccup.

"And you are…?"

"Wendy. I-"

"Don't you be lookin' at my sister that way."

"_Natsu, he wasn't –…"_

Lucy sighed, she wasn't sure if she could cope with the two bickering for much longer, let alone what might happen if the verbal jibes came to blows like it normally did online.

"Guys…!" They both turned to look at her; "Natsu, you need to be a better role model for your sister!" _"I wasn-""_And Crys..." She turned to look at the dark haired boy, only to quickly turn away, Wendy yelping as she looked too, her brothers large hands covering her eyes as his eyes fell on the now bare chest of the boy sitting across from him.

"Put your shirt back on, pervert!"

"What are you..?" The dark haired youth looked down at his chest, "Damn it!" He quickly snatched up the white shirt that had been discarded next to him, forcing it down over his head with a gruff grunt. Wendy giving a sigh of relief when her brothers overly warm hands were removed from her face.

"You do that in real life, too?"

Colour stained the pale boys cheeks; "I don't have any control over it, just happens." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Wait, did you guys exchange real names?"

"It was kind of an accident, really." Lucy confessed, but Natsu only grinned pointing to himself "Natsu." Then he pointed at Lucy "Lucy." Before glaring at the dark haired boy before him; "Anndddd~?"

The smile on that sat on the boy's face was a little larger than before; "Gray."


	5. Eman-sa-puti-what-now?

"K! So Gray's here, I can eat now, right?"

Natsu moved in an attempt to get the backpack that Lucy had sat between herself and Gray, only to have Lucy shift it further out of the way, throwing the bright pink jacket she had been wearing over it.

"Still have to wait for Tita."

Natsu gave a huff as he eased himself back off his knees and back down to the ground, crossing his arms with a playful pout, Lucy and Wendy giving small giggles while Gray gave an exasperated sigh, stretching out while ringing the collar of his shirt.

"You're not gonna stave in the next few minutes, Pinkie."

"Don't call me Pinkie, asshole."

"_Natsu!"_

"Don't whine and groan about how hungry you are and I won't."

Lucy shook her head, still amazed at how things were not as uncomfortable as she thought, it was just as if she was sitting in her bedroom with her headset on, even if there was that worry that the boys might come to actual blows instead of video game equivalents. The childish insults and banter continued for a while before both boys seemly got sick of the game and settled back into semi civil conversation.

"Lucy, you live closest around here, right?"

She wasn't sure if she wanted to answer Gray's question;

"Y-Yes?"

"What's the quickest way to get into the town centre from here? I have work after this."

Lucy hoped the sigh of relief she gave wasn't audible; "Oh, there is a bus stop just over there" She waved to the left of the park; "They come every half an hour or so, they'll take you right into town."

Gray gave her a small smile; "Thanks. I was pretty sure there was a bus, just wanted to make sure. I can't be late again or I'll get fired."

"What kind of person works on a Sunday?"

Gray glared at Natsu; "The kind of person that supports themselves, that's who."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Gray outwardly groaned, running his hand through his hair; "I pay for my own shit, dumbass. I'm emancipated."

"Eman-sa-puti-what-now?"

"_Emancipated._ I live on my own, without a parent or guardian. I have to work and pay for my own stuff, keep my grades up or I end up in foster care."

"Where are your parents?" Natsu said this rather cruelly;

"Dead."

Wendy's bright blue eyes widened in shock, while Lucy glared in Natsu's direction while he took a regretful swallow.

"I – Sorry."

Gray gave a nonchalant shrug, fiddling with his shirt once more; "It's no big deal… life goes on and all that shit. I like it this way anyway it's not –"Gray's eyes widened, "Ah, fuck!" He scrambled off his feet, bolting to the trunk of the tree and laying his back flat against it. "She didn't see me did she?"

Natsu, Wendy and Lucy's lips all made a soundless "who" as they looked in the direction he had once been so shocked at, seeing a teen girl dressed in all blue glancing around the park, dyed dark blue hair perfectly curled around her face. Her shoulders heaved a sigh before she continued her way down the street.

"Please tell me she didn't see me."

Natsu turned back to Gray with a devious smile on his face;

"Who's that?"

"Don't you even think about it, Spikey. She's Juvia…"

"The swim-team co-captain at Magnolia High, Juvia? Haha, you're _that_ Gray, aren't you?"

"If you call her over here I swear to god-" Natsu only smiled larger; "Aren't you supposed to be her boyfriend or something?"

Gray groaned and slid down the tree trunk; "I'm not – we're not dating."

Pale cheeks flushed with red. Lucy felt kind of left out as Natsu began to repeat rumours that had seemly been circulating around the local public high school, with Gray either stuttering some kind of reply or outwardly denying some of the more _personal_ claims, with Wendy giving sweet little giggles every few moments. _"They go to the same school…"_ As much as Lucy loved her group of friends that attended the highly exclusive private high school Era Academy, she hated the school itself, so stuffy and straight. She would often enviously glare at any other teens that sat in casual clothing that attended Magnolia High that caught the same bus home as her. For a public school it had an interesting reputation, high scores in academics and talented sports teams, but it had a rather lenient discipline system and an anything but linear curriculum. Lucy desperately wanted to attend the "normal" school but didn't even think of bringing up the subject with her father; Lucy Heartfilia was not "riff-raff" and would only get "the best."

"Luce'?"

She shook her head, giving a small smile at the three sets of eyes that had started watching her closely.

"Sorry, did you ask me something?"

"We were wondering what home class you were in."

"Oh, I – uh…"

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

* * *

_A/N: For a little more on Gray's backstory and what happened to his parents, along with some information on Juvia and their relationship I have a oneshot called "Painting" that can be found here; s/9257908/_


	6. Titania

To say that Lucy was stunned might have been an understatement; she had happily turned to the voice to avoid telling the people before her that she attended what was considered a snobby private school to look at the owner of the crisp and commanding voice of the last member of the group to arrive, _Titania. _Scarlett red hair fell around a hard, but stunningly gorgeous face, the bangs of her fringe slightly covering her dark brown right eye. She was dressed in a white blouse and blue skirt and even such simple clothes seemed to radiate some kind of poise. Lucy knew that she wasn't bad looking herself, often scowling to herself when she heard other kids at her school comment about her blonde hair and certain other large _endowments_, but sitting before this other girl, or perhaps, woman, she felt a little plain. _Titania _in the flesh was nothing like the plain character that portrayed her online.

"Y – You're…"

"…Erza Scarlet."

Lucy turned away at the sound of the boys meek voices, seeing them looking at the newcomer with a look almost a kin to fear, but she only just smiled and gave a soothing laugh;

"Yes." She took a seat next to Wendy, pulling off her own backpack as she did so, "However, we are just guild-mates here, yes? I'm just another member of the group, not the Student Council President." Her brown eyes had a dangerous glint; "As long as you both behave, Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster."

There was an audible "gulp" as she regarded both of the boys by their full names. The "Aye!" they both uttered anything but convincing but Erza smiled none the less at the reply, the look in her eyes turning back to a friendly one. "I don't believe I know your real name though Stellar. You must be a good student or attend a different school."

"I'm Lucy… Lucy Hea-, just Lucy."

Erza gave her a smile before turning to the small girl next to her who gave a small "eep."

"And you are?"

"Wendy… I'm Natsu's little sister."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Wendy. Your head seems to be firmly on your shoulders, unlike that brother of yours."

Wendy gave a small giggle, agreeing with the older girl's statement about her brother, who gave a grunt in protest.

"How long have you known who we were for?" Gray looked at Erza with a slightly betrayed look;

"You were a surprise Gray. I have known Natsu was _Salamander_ for quite some time however. Since that _incident_ with the girl's lockeroom."

"Oi! That wasn't me! That was the Metal Freak."

"Yes, and you just happened to be dangling from the window."

"Exactly!" Natsu crossed his arms across his chest, a forced grumpy look on his face as if he wasn't really angry at all.

"I didn't feel it was my place to say anything, however, being online everyone needs some anonymity."

"Right." It was plain enough to see that Natsu hadn't understood a word Erza had said, but pushed it off anyway as if it hadn't been important. "Anyway, Luce'?"

"What?"

"You were saying…"

Great, the topic was back. They _all_ went to the same school, even Erza, and they all somehow had a connection to one another from outside the game world, Lucy felt an odd feeling in her stomach, feeling left out again.

"I … "Her sentence was so mumbled and quite that it there was no way any of them could have understood it.

"I didn't quite hear that, Lucy."

"I go to-"She mumbled again. Damn it, why was it so hard for her to just say what school she went to. "I go to Era."

"Era Academy? That super, super elite school?" Natsu had unfolded his arms from his chest while Gray seemed to lean in a little closer. Erza shifting positions slightly and Lucy could only nod.

"Wow Luce'! You must be like a freakin' genus or something!"

That was not the reaction she had been expecting, really, she wasn't sure _what_ reaction she could have expected. She'd never really considered anyone outside of the school a friend before the three people that sat with her, what _were_ they supposed to think, anyway?

"I've heard the arts program there is amazing." Gray leaned back once more, a dreamy look in his eyes and tone. "You've got that amazing art professor there, right? Reedus Jonah."

Lucy smiled at the mention of one of her favourite teachers; "Yes. Professor Jonah is really nice. I take one of his classes."

"I –." Erza's face had turned bright red, matching her hair, shyly looking at Lucy as she twiddled her fingers around themselves. "Do – _um – _do you know someone called Jellal…_maybe_?"

"Jellal Fernandes?"

Erza gave an odd nod; it seemed to be a mixture of a slow shy nod and an eager fast one, which only lead Lucy to wonder how Erza knew the brooding teen that tended to sit up in the back corner for most of the classes Lucy took with him, barely talking to anyone besides common courtesy, and turning red as a beet whenever someone talked about his amazing mathematical mind or that he was the star sprinter for the schools track team.

"The class prez doesn't have a crush now, does she?"

Gray's playful jibe earned him a shift punch in the nose; "Not so loud!" Erza's face turned even reder, if that was possible, Gray groaning out some kind of apology while Wendy whispered to him asking if he was ok and Lucy found her face turning into a grin, this hadn't been such a bad idea, after all.

* * *

_A/N: Yay! This stuff is now over with and I can get started on the fluffy fluffy Nalu, Gruvia and Jerza goodness! The chapters will start becoming longer too._


	7. Surprise!

_A/N: Tehe, this was fun :D - Anyway, I wanna thank Rose-Chan for chatting with me while I wrote this part, I enjoyed it :D You if you havent read some of RoseAHarvey 's stuff you really should! The Peacekeeper is great, one of my favourites! On with the show!_

* * *

Meeting in real life had been _such_ a bad idea. Things had been fine at first; Lucy had fallen back into the normal routine of her life. Get up, go to school, come home, listen to her father talk about work, go online, run a few dungeons, homework, text her school friends, sleep and then start it all over again the next day things only being a little different on weekends. Even if her raiding group now tended to call each other by their real names when in private chat as opposed to usernames anymore. She should have figured something was up when Natsu had been saying _nothing _online, besides the odd communication needed for the group to work, cheerfully replying that he was fine when she actually asked why he was being so quiet. Only to find the pink haired teen leaning up against the gate that led into Era Academy the next afternoon, a stupidly handsome smile plastered on his face when he noticed Lucy walking down the driveway with her arm linked around the arm of a much smaller girl. Natsu was either ignoring or just oblivious to the looks Lucy's fellow students were giving him, likely judging him purely by the rosy pink hair and tattered jeans he had seen fit to dress himself in, a white scarf wrapped around his neck even though the weather was still warm, concealing the black tee he was wearing slightly.

"Lu… is he smiling at you?"

The kind voice of her best friend brought her out of her revere, causing Lucy to stumble in her step.

"Yes. Its ok, I know him… _and I am going to kill him."_

His smile didn't falter when he saw the look of certain doom on her face, giving a snort like laugh at the way it made her face look.

"Heh. Don't pull that face, Luce', you look like a little old man."

The look fell from her face; "Did you just call me an old man?"

"Nope! Hi!"

He held his hand out to Lucy's petite friend, who Lucy was surprised by when she took it and shook it with a smile, but then again, he was a charming bastard after all.

"Hello."

He smiled larger at her reply, that same smile he had given Lucy the same day they had met face to face and Lucy felt her cheeks burn red;

"Natsuwhatareyoudoinghere?"

She said this a little too quickly; perhaps it was an attempt to cover up her now burning face.

"It's been awhile since we've seen each other. Thought I'd walk you home from school."

"We talked last night, Natsu."

"_Pfft_, that's not the same!"

Without warning he hooked himself around Lucy's free arm, a look in his eyes that left no room for protest causing Lucy to huff in defeat, only for her face to burn bright red again when her so called best friend whispered into her ear as they walked; _"You talked last night, huh?"_

"Levy!"

The bright blue haired, hazel eyed girl known as Levy only gave a cheeky smile, before untangling herself from Lucy's arm and giving a bright little skip in the other direction.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lu! Nice you meet you Natsu!"

"Levy!"

"You too!"

Lucy watched Levy skip away with a glare, _"Best friend my ass." _Mumbling under her breath as she and Natsu walked on, the pinkette either not noticing or not caring about her little mumbles.

"Your school is huge, Luce'."

"This is only the main high school part. On the next street is the primary school and behind that are the athletics and arts centres."

"Seriously? And I complain that the walk from the main building to the gym is long."

"There are little paths from the all the buildings for us to get around… did you seriously come all the way across town to walk me home?"

"Yeah, silly, I said that didn't I?"

Lucy couldn't help but smile, stupid cute guild-mate.

"I catch the bus home, you know, you'll have to catch it with me if you wanna walk me all the way home."

"The bus?" Natsu's face seemed to pale a little;

"Yeah, I live around South Gate Park, remember? That's like twelve blocks from here."

"We can walk that."

"Not if I wanna get home before my father loses his head we can't."

"I… I don't do busses."

"Walk me to the bus stop then."

The tall bus sign was clearly sticking up from the street a few feet away from them, a good crowd of kids that attended Era Academy mulling around it.

"It's right _there_ Luce'. I wanna spend time with you."

"We spend heaps of time together."

"In-game doesn't count."

Lucy paused for a moment, she had been intending to make some flippant remark back but something else finally caught her attention;

"Did you _walk_ here?"

He gave a quick nod with a large smile;

"How the hell did you get out of school with enough time to be here when _I _got out?"

"Ditched the last two periods."

"You skipped class just to come and spend time with me?"

"I just _said_ that Luce'," he moved his free hand up around Lucy's ear and gave it a slight tickle causing Lucy to give a small squirm and snort; "I think you need to clean your ears out." He gave her another tickle again for good measure.

"Natsu! Don't! It tickles!"

Natsu unhooked his arm from Lucy's and spun to face her, a mischievous smile on his face as he moved in closer, causing Lucy to give a little squeal and pull her hands up in a playful, but defensive, manor only to have the game interrupted by the sound of the large bus pulling up to the bus stop, causing him to put his arms down and frown.

"I guess you have to go, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Natsu looked rather ruefully at the bus as students started to pour on, Lucy shifting her bag on her shoulder as she turned to leave.

"Wait." He pulled a small ball of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it and gave it a once over; "Do you have a pen?"

Lucy pulled a small blue ballpoint pen from her pocket and handed it over; he uncapped it with his mouth before scribbling something down on the page, handing back both the pen and paper to Lucy.

"Come visit me this weekend."

Smiling and not giving her a chance to reply he shoved both his hands in his pockets, gave the bus one last hateful look and strode down the street, leaving Lucy standing in line to get on the bus, looking down at the piece of paper that looked like it was a parent summons that had an address scrawled across it in semi-neat handwriting.

"Miss Heartfilla…?"

The mention of her last name jump started her back into reality, turning glancing behind her only to find a dark blue haired teen with a dark red tattoo seated over his right eye, the image of Ezra flashing in her mind for just a moment before she realised she was supposed to be getting on the bus.

"Oh, _hehe, _sorry."

_-Online-Offline-_

She was _not_ doing this. She was _not_ standing in front of a modest looking home in the middle of Magnolia's canal district. The house was well kept and clean, besides a load of scuff marks that seemed to come from one particular upstairs window, a tidy and beautiful garden making up its front yard. The number that sat on the letter box matching the number that was written on the piece of paper she held tightly in her hand. It was Saturday afternoon, neither herself nor Natsu had mentioned that he had come and attempted to walk her all the way home from school, nor that he had pretty much demanded her to come visit on the weekend, but she knew he hadn't forgotten as much as she had stared at the slip of paper. She placed her hand on the gate before pulling away as if she had been burned, she could not be doing this. Stupid brain, stupid piece of paper, stupid cute boy!

"_He'll be upset if I don't turn up… He'll likely turn up at school again on Monday."_

Sucking air in through her teeth she placed her hand on the gate again, pushing it open and taking small steps down the stone path, hesitating once more when she reached the front door, before steeling her resolve and giving the door a light wrap with her knuckles, shifting on her feet as the uneasy wait for someone to answer the door began, her heart pounding faster at the sound of feet and the doorknob being turned. The door was opened by a middle aged woman, long white-blonde hair sat in a pony tail that sat high on her head, her face was lined, but had more smile lines than frown ones, her bright blue eyes regarding the girl before her with mild curiosity.

"Yes?"

"H – Hello, I'm Lucy. I'm here to see Natsu…?"

There was a mischievous look in her eye as soon as Natsu's name had been mentioned and Lucy wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"Sure, come on in."

The woman opened the door wide and stepped to the side allowing Lucy inside, and Lucy quickly noticed the lack of shoes on the woman's feet and the pile of shoes that sat around the front door, a familiar faded pair of black sneakers sitting haphazardly in the pile as if they had been kicked there. Taking the pile as a hint she gently slid her own ballet flats off, placing them neatly near the door, looking up again as the woman started to speak.

"I think the boy is in his room." She waved her hand towards a large open arched door; "Wait in there, I'll let him know you're here."

"Thank you." She gave her a smile before walking into the small living room, the television was on, and it appeared to be a nature documentary of some kind.

"Lucy?"

A sweet voice perked up from the corner of the room and Lucy turned to face Wendy, whom was sitting in a large arm chair, a sweet smile on her face while a small white cat sat on her lap, giving Lucy a look that made her feel uneasy.

"Hello Wendy."

"Are you here to see Natsu?"

"I think I've been roped into it."

"Yup, that sounds like my brother."

The small cat made a low growl in its throat causing Wendy to give it a light pat;

"Don't be mean, Carla! Lucy is nice." Lucy felt something soft and furry rubbing itself around her legs; "Oh, _hehe_, you weren't growling at Lucy." Lucy looked down at her feet to find a grey cat, not much larger than the white one that was sitting on Wendy's lap, rubbing itself around on her legs, giving happy little purrs.

"Carla doesn't like Happy very much."

"The cats name is Happy?"

"And _what's wrong_ with his name being Happy?"

Lucy jumped at the voice and turned to see Natsu leaning on the door frame, that damn cute smile on his face again, his arms crossed over his _bare_ chest and Lucy felt her breath hitch at the sight of it, she had assumed he must have been decently built seeing how he filled out his clothes, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined him to be the owner of chiselled abs.

"Only _you'd_ name your cat Happy."

Natsu poked his tongue out in her direction and Lucy replied in kind, before having her hand taken as she was softly pulled up the staircase and into, well, she wanted to call it a bedroom, but she wasn't sure, it looked like a bomb had it hit, on the plus side it didn't smell though.

"Welcome to Casa 'de Natsu!"

* * *

_A/N: I kinda just had a thought after I posted this. Just to clarify, the white-blonde woman is not Mira, its someone else. I read that part back and realised it could have been easily interpreted to be Mira. Opps :/_


	8. Casa 'de Natsu

_A/N: There is a little bit of foul language in this chapter, just for a warning :)_

* * *

_She wanted to call it a bedroom, but she wasn't sure, it looked like a bomb had it hit, on the plus side it didn't smell though. _

"_Welcome to Casa 'de Natsu!"_

Lucy took careful steps into the bedroom, there was some kind of path carved around the mixture of clothes and miscellaneous other items that lay scattered across the floor, before swiping her hand across the deep red bedspread that sat over the bed, well it was more like a base and matrasses on the floor, before sitting down, the bed was rather uncomfortly hard, before looking around the room some more, a few posters of punk, rock and heavy metal bands scattered the walls, some she had heard of but most she had no clue who they were. Red was a very common colour in the room so Lucy took the safe assumption that it must have been his favourite colour, there was only one place in the room that could have been considered clean, and that was the wooden desk that sat slammed up against the wall, the sound of a computer humming along with some of the little sounds that Lucy knew were from the game, unsurprised to see him logged in, his character standing in the middle of one of the major quest hubs. Natsu gave a low groan as he sat down in the large backed office chair, leaning back in a stretch as soon as he sat, the impressive muscles that sat on his chest and stomach twitching from the movement causing Lucy to turn away quickly.

"What's wrong, Luce'?"

"Uh, nothing!"

She turned back just as quickly, forcing herself to look at his face rather than that alluring chest of his. Stupid hot Natsu.

"Your face is all red; you're not gettin' sick are you?"

"No! I'm ok. Just hot from the walk." _"Not from the fact you are sitting there with no shirt on."_

He smiled at her, seemingly happy with her answer, glancing over at the computer screen for a moment when a message notification sound popped, causing him to smirk and quickly type in a reply.

"You're not gonna play while I'm here, that's rude."

"Nah, _someone_ was worried about you because you haven't come online today."

Lucy groaned and fell backwards on the bed, even though it hurt her back with a jolt, she knew who that _someone_ was.

"You didn't tell him I was here, did you?"

"Yeah. Why? Wasn't I supposed to?"

Lucy groaned louder, pounding her fists on the bed a little childishly, she would never hear the end of this from her online admirer, or maybe stalker was the better term. As soon as the young man in question had heard her voice over the voice chat for the first time he had become completely smitten with Lucy, and she had been unable to go a day online without him proclaiming his love to her. Maybe it could have been charming, if he didn't flirt with every other female in the guild or any other female in general. The sound of constant messages being sent exploded into the room and Lucy sat up and was easily able to see the text on Natsu's computer screen scrolling upwards like crazy.

"Are they _all_ from Leo?"

"No, it's guild chat."

"Natsu! You told the _whole guild_ I was here?!"

"Yes…?"

Lucy flopped back down on the bed once more, great, just great. As kind and fun as the group of people she played with online were, they were also notorious for jumping to conclusions and indulging in rumour along with a hell lot of innuendo. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"I – are you mad at me?"

She closed her eyes;

"No… yes? I don't know."

She felt the bed around her shift and she shot her eyes open to find Natsu sitting close to her on the bed, his face was turned from her but she was almost sure he was biting his lower lip, Lucy sighed;

"It's just; you know what they're like." Wait, he didn't really, all the innuendo talk tended to fly over his head. "They're gonna think we're dating."

He turned to her quickly, was he blushing?

"We're not, are we?"

"No."

He turned to her, that big grin on his face;

"Then it's fine!"

Trust him to make everything seem so simple, he flopped down on the bed next to her, only moving slightly when there was a tiny little meow, helping the grey cat known as Happy up onto the bed and onto his chest.

"He's a cute cat."

"Yeah… I found him as a kitten, I snuck him home, Grandeeney is actually allergic. I kept him hidden for days until Wendy found him and came into the kitchen with him in her arms. We both eventually convinced Dad to let us keep him."

She smiled, the image of a kid Natsu sneaking home with the kitten Happy hidden under his jacket, a goofy little smile on his face floating into her mind.

"You have a dog, right?"

"Yeah, Plue. He's a Shih Tzu."

"A what?"

"Little white dog."

Neither of them said anything for a while, the only sound coming from the fan of the computer and Happy's content purr.

"Hey, Luce?"

"Mmm?"

"I kinda felt weird inviting you to my place."

Lucy propped herself up on her elbow to look at Natsu, who was staring absent-mindedly up at the celling, she opened her mouth to reply but he beat her to it;

"I mean. This is supposed to be weird, right? We've talked for ages but only just really met but I feel like we've always been hanging out, you know? I kinda felt weird when Grandeeney said you were here, like half happy and half freaked out."

"I was feeling the same."

He gave a sigh;

"Glad it's not just me then. I just wanna spend time with you, I guess."

There was a sudden tap at the bedroom window causing both teens to sit up and look over, before a small pebble hit the window causing a tap once more. Natsu groaned before sliding Happy off his chest, the cat giving a slightly miffed meow, before striding over to the window and sliding it open, glaring out of it.

"What do _you_ want?"

"What do you think? Get a shirt on asshole and get down here!"

The voice in reply was gruff and deep and one Lucy had never heard before.

"No, fuck off."

He began to slide the window closed;

"What are you, a coward?"

He slammed the window back open and practically hung himself out of it.

"I am _not_ a coward, lead pipe."

There was an odd sounding laugh; "Prove it."

"I don't have to prove anything to you."

The look in his eyes and the tone of Natsu's voice was one Lucy hadn't been sure he had, from all the time she had known him he had come across as a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, even when he was arguing with Gray, but whomever was outside was causing some kind of rise out of him, one Lucy wasn't sure she liked. Even though she had pinned him with the "delinquent" look she'd never really struck her actually _as _one, but looking at him now she could easily imagine this boy breaking into a school and getting into bloody fist fights.

"Natsu?"

Her voice sounded a little wobbly in her own ears, and he quickly turned to her, that odd and kind of scary fire in his eyes dying down quickly as he looked at her, shyly rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

"Oi! You don't have a _girl_ up there do you?"

He turned to the window once more, the look in his eyes suddenly back;

"What if I do?!"

There was that laugh again; "_and_ you have no shirt on. What are you up to?"

Lucy felt her face turn bright red, of course the suggestion just made went right over Natsu's head but seeing Lucy's bright red face out of the corner of his eye, he knew it was something that wasn't good.

"Fuck off already!"

Not waiting for a reply Natsu slammed the window shut so hard that the whole thing shook, a shy and almost ashamed look pouring into his features as they both ignored the sound of more rocks being thrown at the window.

"_Uh…_ Sorry Lucy…"

She watched him for a moment, even though it had sounded like a question at the end, the apology was genuine. He did seem truly ashamed at himself for scaring her, though Lucy herself wasn't sure if she was _scared_ exactly, maybe worried was the better term.

"Me and him, we normally get along ok… just sometimes… well, ok, maybe a lot of the times we end up fighting."

"He wanted to fight you?"

"I may have, _maybe_, filled his locker full of worms the other day."

Lucy frowned; "Why did you do that?"

He shrugged; "Bored."

She should have been worried, or maybe even appalled at the action, but instead a smile found its way onto her lips and soon after she had started laughing.

"Natsu~ that's kinda mean."

"Heh."

* * *

_A/N: This was harder than I thought it was going to be. _


	9. Move This Mountain

The teens spent the next hour or so chatting with each other, sharing the stories they hadn't told each other yet online, not noticing that they had both been slowly easing closer to each other, the chatting and joking suddenly interrupted by a knock that the bedroom door, it pushing open revealing the same middle aged woman that had opened the door to Lucy, that glint in her eyes still there as she looked at the teens who sat closely on the bed, hands just millimetres away from each other.

"Sorry to interrupt, it's getting late Lucy; will you be staying for dinner?"

Natsu's face lit up;

"Stay Luce'!"

The look on his face at the childish tone his voice had gained made her laugh;

"I'd love to, lemme just call my Dad and make sure its ok."

Standing up off the bed and moving away into the cleanest corner of the bedroom she could find she pulled out her smart-phone and found her father's mobile number, tapping her foot slightly as she waited for him to pick up, barely listening to the conversation behind her about the state of Natsu's bedroom.

"_Jude Heartfilia."_

"Daddy, its Lucy. I'm still at my friends place, hi- _their_ parents invited me to stay for dinner, is that ok?"

"_Yes, Yes."_

"Daddy, are you listening?"

"_Lucy! I am in the middle of a major take-over bid; I don't have time for this."_

"Da-"

"_Lucy!"_

"Ok. I'll be home later then."

He didn't reply, the only sound greeting her was the click of his phone and then a dead line. She sighed as she slipped the phone back into her pocket, arranging her face in the best smile she could muster before turning back to Natsu and his Step-Mother.

"He said it was fine."

The words came out cheerful, but the dark look in Natsu's eyes and the strange glint gone from the woman's and Lucy knew they didn't believe that the conversation had gone as smoothly as she was trying to put across, it was a few moments before anything was said.

"Alright then. I hope you don't mind spicy foods. It was a certain _someone's_ turn to choose the meal tonight."

Blue eyes turned to Natsu who still had that dark look on his face.

"And Natsu." He didn't turn; "It's not very gentlemen like to have no shirt on with a woman in your room. If your father saw you like this he'd have a fit."

As the door was shut Natsu shot of the bed, grabbing a plain black tee that had been hanging off something near the bed, pulling it away it revealed the head of a guitar neck.

"You play guitar?"

"Yeah." His voice was muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head, Lucy inwardly being disappointed that she couldn't ogle his abs anymore. "Bass and drums as well."

Funny, kind, hot _and_ can play three instruments, Lucy felt her face turn red again and prayed to whatever controlled the universe that he wouldn't notice. _"Next thing he'll tell me he has a killer singing voice and single handily saved orphans and kittens from a burning hospital while fighting an entire group of rabid killer bears."_

"Do you play anything, Luce'?"

"Dad's been making me take piano lessons since I was six, but I'm not very good."

He picked up the guitar off the stand and shook the rest of the clothes off it;

"Here." He pulled her back towards the bed.

"What?"

"I'm gonna teach you to play."

"Natsu I-"

"Nah, no buts. It will be fun!"

He sat down on the bed before sitting her in front of him, before placing the guitar in her lap and guiding her hands onto the strings.

"Sit up a little straighter, Luce', you won't be able to play right like that."

She straightened her back and the guitar slipped into place on her legs, her arm fitting a little better so she could reach the strings that sat before the bridge. She noticed his hand was rather calloused as he took hers again, gently pushing her hand to the neck of the guitar, pushing and prodding her fingers around, both to concentrated on the task of teaching and learning that they didn't realise the position had moved them rather close together, Natsu's chest rubbing against Lucy's back, his head cradled in the crook of her neck.

"Relax your fingers a little."

"Sorry."

"There, now strum."

She ran her fingers across the strings, a pleasant little sound coming from the instrument she was holding. He smiled before moving her fingers around again, the process repeating every time he had gotten her to play a new cord, before placing her hands on a cord one last time, realising her hand and placing his a little further down the neck of the guitar, making a nice harmony when he told her to strum again.

"You're a natural, Luce'."

She smiled at him as he pulled away, taking the guitar off her lap and handing it out to him.

"Now you gotta play me something."

He laughed and took the guitar from her, pulling a flame decaled pick from his bed stand and giving the guitar a little strum, turning the tuning pegs for a moment before strumming again and settling into a more comfortable position. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he started to play, the tune that filled up his bedroom was a beautifully melancholy one, his face relaxing as he eased into the song some more, and Lucy closed her eyes and leaned back, he was good.

_What do you want from me?  
I stand before you no attempt to leave.  
I'm too tired to disagree,  
I stand before you no chance I'll believe this warning;_

Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright, Natsu's own eyes had closed, a sort of dream like look on his face;

_Oh, do you know,  
I would have done anything for you;  
Take this chance I won't repeat this.  
I can do anything that's put beside of you  
And I can move any mountains that you make  
I'll lift you up and my back will never break  
And I can move this mountain._

He was singing, it wasn't a song Lucy was sure she knew;

_Come and take the rest of me.  
I never thought I wouldn't want you near.  
This is all I'll ever be.  
I understand you;  
Look around to see this dawning.  
Oh, does it show;  
I wanted to catch you falling._

The song made her feel a little sad but at the same time it uplifted her;

_Oh, do you know,  
I would have done anything for you.  
Take this chance I won't repeat this._

_I can do anything that's put beside of you  
And I can move any mountains that you make.  
I'll lift you up and my back will never break  
And I can move this mountain._

He stopped suddenly, his eyes flickering open and looking down at Lucy.

"Ah, sorry, I got carried away. I haven't actually played for a while."

He placed the guitar back on its stand and Lucy felt a little dejected, she had wanted him to keep going.

"You're really good Natsu."

His face became a little red;

"_Hehem…_ Thanks…"

Lucy shifted herself on his bed; "You've never rescued people from a burning building by any chance, have you?"

_Online-Offline_

Lucy shifted on the bed slightly, there had been the sound of a car door shutting and Natsu had fallen completely silent, a look flying on his face as if he had suddenly just remembered something.

"Natsu?"

He didn't say anything, Lucy heard the sound of the houses front door click open and closed before the sound of mingled voices before there was a deep sounding yelp followed by fast paced footsteps and Natsu shifted on his bed;

"So, uh, Luc-"

The bedroom door swung open with a bang causing Lucy to jump and turn in the direction of the door. A middle aged man stood there, dressed in a well laundered police uniform, dark red hair settled in a very recognizable spikey style sat on his head. He was tall, so tall Lucy was sure he had to bend down to walk through doorways, and while Natsu had just seemed bulky under his clothing, this man must have put the teens chiselled abs to shame, Lucy could almost _see_ the man's muscles under his shirt. His face was also vaguely recognizable, almost as if she was looking at the boy next to her from twenty or so years in the future. Onyx eyes watched her carefully for a moment, and Lucy suddenly felt as if she had been scoured all over, inside and out, before the sharp look in the man's eyes completely eased, a smirk twitching his lips.

"Well, it seems I owe my wife an apology. My son _does_ have a young lady in his bedroom with him." He bent down while entering the room and as he came through the door he suddenly seemed taller, taking large strides across the room, stepping on whatever Natsu had seen fit to leave on the floor and she noticed him flinch slightly out of the corner of her eye.

"I've been told you will be joining us for dinner tonight, is that true Miss…?"

"Lucy, sir."

He gave a little laugh, the knot that had somehow been tying itself in her stomach easing a little and the sound; it was so like Natsu's.

"No need to call me sir Lucy. Igneel is fine." The tall man turned to Natsu; "I thought I told you to clean this pigsty."

"Well, _uh¸_ Luce' came over…?"  
Igneel snickered; "All the more reason it should have been cleaned earlier, Natsu. Tomorrow."

"But Dad I-"

"_Tomorrow_, Natsu. You're needed to set the table."

Natsu mumbled something under his breath;

"What was that boy?"

"Nothing!"

Natsu hopped off the bed and took Lucy's hand in his, glaring at his father when the older man had raised an eyebrow, pulling her out of the bedroom, causing Lucy to make an odd sound in surprise as they bounded down the staircase.

"Natsu, not so fast, I'm gonna – "Lucy tripped on her foot while taking one of the stairs and tumbled downwards into the broad back of Natsu, the chain reaction causing him to fall also, both of them toppling down the last few stairs, Natsu landing with his back to the floor with a grunt and a thud, Lucy falling on top of him a few moments later, causing their faces to be extremely close to each other, both teens turning bright red.

"_A – Urhm – _Are you ok, Lucy?"

"_Ye –_ Yes. Are you?"

Neither moved for a few moments still before the shuffling of feet caused Lucy to almost jump off Natsu, him jolting upwards at the same time.

"Are you both ok?!"

Wendy's sweet voice came from the room to their left, the blue haired girl standing in the doorframe, a cloth and wooden spoon in her hands.

"Natsu made me trip."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Natsu poked his tongue out at Lucy before standing; holding out his hand to her as he watched her lit herself up off the ground, taking it with a thank you. Wendy giving a smile and little laugh at the display, _she_ was supposed to be the child.

* * *

_A/N: For anyone wondering the song was Move this Mountain by Sophie Ellis Bextor. I had always planned for Natsu to sing something in this part, and just as I was hitting writing the part that song played on my music player, I was skimming around looking for something that I thought I could make fit, but I just ended up sitting and listening and ended up choosing the song. I'm not really sure WHY exactly I picked it, but I did. The song itself has more of an electronica sound and doesn't normally have guitar, but artistic license! I also don't play guitar myself, so I kinda winged it with the teaching part. _


	10. Dinner with the Dragneels

_A/N: So much for a side project, I think Online Offline is now longer than Reverse Flame, or, at least, has a bigger word count. Anyway, I feel as if this chapter is kind of short but thats just because it wont fit with the next one... something I'm kind of trying as a bit of an experiment to see how it goes._

* * *

Lucy wasn't quite sure what she should be doing, Wendy and her mother, Grandeeney, stood in front of the stove and bench, chattering to each other as they put the finishing touches on what Lucy assumed to be some kind of curry. Natsu was grumpily setting the table, yelling out in pain as Happy climbed up his legs, back and onto his shoulder, looking quite pleased with himself once he was able to sit there, while the sound of running water coming from upstairs led Lucy to assume that Igneel was washing up.

"_Umm..._ Is there anything I can do?"

"Help m-"Natsu was cut off;

"No, no, Lucy. You're our guest, relax hunny."

Grandeeney gave Lucy a friendly smile as she looked up from the stove, and this just made Lucy feel even more out of place, rocking on the balls of her feet.

"Ah! Happy, that hurt!"

Natsu growled at the cat on his shoulder as he clawed at Natsu's ear, the expression on the cats face making him look at if he was laughing. Figuring it was better than just waiting around doing nothing Lucy walked over to Natsu and gently lifted the cat off his shoulder, Happy squirmed at first, giving a little mewl, but began to happily purr when he noticed it was Lucy holding him, nuzzling himself into Lucy's amble chest, and if had have been anyone other than a cat Lucy might have smacked them for it, but the way Happy made himself at home in between her breasts almost made her let out a small "aww" in cuteness. Sitting down next to the seat that Natsu took after he'd finished setting the table, giving Happy a light scratch on the head as Lucy sat, again, anyone else and she might have slapped them, but she had long since realised that Natsu was far too dense to realise that by doing his he was also rubbing his hand against her breast, too busy looking down at Happy to notice that a pink flush had made its way onto the boys cheeks.

Lucy set Happy down, the cat giving a small meow as she did so, before giving her thanks to Wendy who had placed a decent sized bowl of rice and a orangey coloured curry, vegetables and what looked like chicken stained the same orange colour.

"This looks really great, thank you Mrs. Dragneel."

Grandeeney smiled at Lucy, setting a bowl down in front of her husband;

"Call me Grandeeney, please, and you're more than welcome Lucy."

Taking a spoonful into her mouth Lucy was able to enjoy the way the curry tasted for only a moment before the heat hit her, it was rather warm but nothing she couldn't handle, but she almost choked on her mouthful as Natsu began to pour what looked like tabasco over his own, larger, bowl.

"It's not too hot is it, Lucy?"

Wendy's sweet voice spoke from the other side of the table.

"_Cough_, No, it's fine… but," She looked over at Natsu who now had his own spoon hanging out of his mouth. "Isn't that too much?"

He swallowed; "It's great like this, Luce'. Try some!"

He took another spoon full and hovered it around her mouth;

"Natsu!" She closed her mouth tight when he had tried to put the spoon in there and wiggled away; "Don't~"

"Aww, come on, don't be a baby!"

He tried to get the food in her mouth once more, only to have Lucy wiggle away again, batting his hand away softly. This went on for a while only to have the little game stop when there was a deep chuckle from the head of the table, causing Lucy to look back down at her food, her face bright red, Natsu doing the same, his face only slightly flushed compared to hers, Igneel laughing once more, Grandeeney's own lips curved into a smile.

"So, tell me Lucy, do you attend Magnolia High with Natsu?"

"No, I go to Era Academy."

Igneel seemed impressed with the answer;

"Ahh, I see. How did you both happen to meet then?"

She opened her mouth to reply but Natsu beat her to it;

"Friend of a friend." His voice sounded a little horse as if he had forced down his mouthful to say it, the answer confusing Lucy for a moment when memory popped up in her mind.

"_Yeah. I mentioned her once and Dad kinda freaked out. He doesn't want me talking about her online." - "Dad's a cop. He's seen and heard some bad stuff, so he kinda goes a bit overboard sometimes."_

They didn't know that Natsu had not only met people he'd only known online, but taken his little sister with him. Lucy decided it would have been a bad idea to correct him and tell the truth, she'd already seemingly gained his parents trust and would hate to think what would happen if they found out where Natsu actually knew her from.

"Any plans for the future, Lucy?"

"_Uhm…_ My father has already reserved a place for me at a business school in Crocus." Natsu's face darkened at the mention of Lucy's father. "I suppose after that I'll end up working with him."

"Hmm, I see. Is that what you want though, Lucy?"

Lucy's spoon clattered on the side of the bowl at the question, glancing up at Igneel quickly, that searching look in his eyes once more.

"I – I guess I've always wanted to study the stars. Astronomy and stuff, my mom was an Astronomer She used to get me up late at night if the sky was clear and she'd show me the constellations and tell me their stories."

"You should do that instead, Luce'."

Natsu's reply was blunt, not conveying the feeling mixture of feelings that were swirling in his eyes and Lucy took a mouthful of food once more, her mouth now numb to the heat.

"In any case." Igneel's voice was crisp and clear; "I think either are noble goals Lucy. At least you _have_ plans."

Lucy didn't have to look up from her bowl to know whom that statement was directed to.

"I _do_ have plans Dad."

"Oh?"

"I'm gonna be like you."

The statement caused Lucy to smile, it was kind of cute how Natsu looked up to his father like that, even though the interaction she'd seen between the two was brief, she could already tell they had a best friend kind of relationship, and she was kind of envious, along with a sharp feeling in her chest.

"_I miss you, Mama."_

* * *

_A/N: Naughty Natsu for using Happy for a chance to touch Lucy's boobies :P_


	11. Guild Chat

_A/N: Ok, so this is my experimental chapter, in game text chat. I hope its not too confusing. Have fun trying to work out who is who!_

* * *

Lucy gave a content yawn and stretch as she sat on her computer chair, she'd slept in till late in the morning, pulling herself out of bed and straight onto the computer, retying her hair blonde hair back as she waited for the computer to load, humming to herself a tune she wasn't sure she knew, happily booting up her music program of choice, clicking one of her more cheerful songs before clicking on the little icon that represented the game. Singing along she logged into her account and happily chose her character, typing a happy hello into the guilds shared chat once the game was fully loaded;

* * *

_Sitri: Well HELLOOO there Stellar._

_Salamander: Morning Stell!_

_Leo: Stellar!_

* * *

Lucy hummed happily as she watched the chat scroll with morning messages, despite the feeling that she had forgotten something in the back of her mind.

* * *

_Sitri: You slept late, Stellar. Did someone keep you up late last night? ;)_

* * *

Lucy gasp at the wink, _"Uh-oh, what did I forget? What did I forget?!"_

* * *

_Titania: Tri, don't suggest such things!_

_Leo: What?!_

_Crystallos: Tita is right; he wouldn't know the first thing to do, anyhow._

* * *

Lucy's face suddenly turned red as she remembered what she had forgotten, furiously typing on her keyboard.

* * *

_StellarHime: Guys! Nothing happened ok!_

_Salamander: Was something supposed to have happened to you Stell? :S_

_Sitri: Suureeeee nothing happened. You just happened to spend the whole day over there._

_Leo: THE WHOLE DAY?!_

_StellarHime: It wasn't the whole day! Just the afternoon._

_Salamander: Oh, is that what we're talking about? You stayed for dinner too._

_Lumen: Ohhh?_

_StellarHime: It's not like that!_

_Sitri: Suureeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_

_Titania: You really were over there?_

_Leo: I'll take you out for dinner, Stellar!_

* * *

Lucy groaned, she'd been so happy his morning too.

* * *

_StellarHime: Yes, ok, I went to 'Mander's place yesterday, and yes, I may have stayed for dinner. Can we just drop it?_

_Lumen: Ha, didn't think the little prick had it in him._

_Salamander: WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ASSHOLE! DUEL ME!_

_Titania Whispers to StellarHime: Voice chat, NOW._

* * *

Flinching at the screen Lucy slowly minimizes the game window for a moment, pauses her music before loading the voice chat program, connecting and being pulled into one of the private rooms before she was able to click anything.

"You went over to his house?!"

Erza's voice almost blasted her eardrums apart;

"Yes, but is ok Erza. Nothing happened! If I hadn't of gone he would have just turned up at my school again."

"_He turned up at your school?!_ When?!"

Lucy smacked herself in the face _"Stupid!"_

"Last Wednesday, but, really Erza, everything is ok!"

"Lucy! You know what – how could you –"She sounded flustered; "at least tell me you weren't alone!"

"Erza! We're not like that!"

"Yo- you're not?"

"No! We're just friends!"

"Suuree you are ~"

A new voice filled the chat, feminine and playful.

"Tri! Get out! You're not supposed to be in here."

"_Hehe_, don't blame me for wanting to get all the hot gossip."

"Nothing happened! We're not dating, we're just friends!"

Lucy's finger hurt from slamming it down on the keyboard to open her microphone, her face turning bright red in embarrassment and anger. Without another word she closed down the voice chat, putting on her music and pulling up the game once more.

* * *

_Titania: Stellar? Did you disconnect?_

_Sitri: Stellar are you still there?_

_StellarHime: I DON'T want to talk about this anymore._

* * *

Huffing as she pressed the enter button she started to move her character around the game world, seeing an unsurprising crowd around the middle of the city, Natsu and _Lumen_'s duel seemed to be going on longer than normal, _Lumen_ normally beating Natsu within a few moments. She didn't stop to watch, still half glaring at guild chat to see if anyone was still trying to talk to her, but it had fallen oddly silent. She wandered around the city for a while, looking for quests or anything interesting to do.

* * *

_Crystallos: You gotta stop challenging him, dude. Your repair bill is gonna be through the roof._

_Salamander: You're next, Ice-Prick._

_Crystallos: Bring it on, Hot-Head._

_Salamander Whispers to StellarHime: You ok?_

_StellarHime Whispers to Salamander: No, not really._

_Salamander Whispers to StellarHime: Am I in trouble? I'm sorry Luce._

* * *

She huffed, looking down at her lap at the moment, she wasn't really sure if she should be angry at him or not, he may have told the guild she'd been over there yesterday, but he never would have realised the kind of grief it would cause her.

* * *

_StellarHime Whispers to Salamander: No, you're not in trouble and its ok._

_Salamander has gone offline._

_Crystallos has gone offline._

* * *

Lucy blinked at her screen for a moment, before waiting a few seconds, random disconnections from the game was not uncommon.

* * *

_Lumen: Idiots got themselves banned, they just blew up half of the trading district._

_Leo: Is that even possible?_

_Lumen: Apparently so. _

_Sitri: I had heard they were trying out some kind of destroyable buildings in cities, but they were supposed to have set the health so high it was supposed to be impossible to destroy them yet._

_Titania Whispers to StellarHime: Natsu is in voice chat, he says he wants to talk to you._

* * *

Opening up voice chat once more she was surprised to see all the rooms empty besides the lonely username of Natsu.

"Hey Luce', am I in trouble?"

"_He didn't get the message before he got banned."_

"No, you're not in trouble. It's ok."

"Why'd I get banned?"

"Apparently you and Gray blew up half the city."

"Really?! Awesome!"

"How long is it for this time?"

"Dunno', haven't gotten the email yet. Hey,_ uh_, Lucy…?"

"Yes?"

"Everyone thought we were dating, right? That I'd invited you around to my place to do, _stuff?"_

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at him using the term "stuff".

"Yes."

"I, _uh…._ Can I be honest?"

"Sure, you know you can tell me anything."

"I didn't really mind."

The mouse slipped from under Lucy's hand and her nose almost came colliding with her table.

"_What?"_

"I wouldn't mind if they thought we were dating… 'cos, I…_uh…"_

Lucy's heart was pounding hard in her chest;

"Because you what?"

"I like you… and not just as a friend, I mean, I _really _like you…"

* * *

_A/N: Yip, I'm leaving it right there for now. No updates until at least tomorrow now, Sleepy Tassie is Sleepy._


	12. Confessions

_A/N: Hahaha, I'm mean arent I? _

* * *

Lucy blankly stared at her computer screen; she wasn't sure how long she'd sat there like that with her mouth hanging open.

"Shit!" Natsu's voice made her jump; "I… I'm sorry Lucy, I wasn't supposed to tell you like this was I? I'm supposed to tell you face to face or something. I wanted to tell you last night, I mean; I _really_ wanted to tell you." His voice was frantic and fast; "When you left, god, I wanted to kiss you Lucy. I – I don't know the first thing to do though; I've never felt like this before, _ever_. And what if - what if you don't feel the same and I've just gone and said all this stuff and, _fuck_, what if you don't wanna talk to me anymore? 'Cos, I like being your friend anyways, if you don't feel the same way I can get over it (_I think_) and just be your friend like before. But what if it's weird? What if I've ruined everything?!" There was a sound as if Natsu had slammed his head down on his desk. "Stupid, stupid!"

"Natsu?"

"_Just, _just forget I said anything! I –"

"I think I like you, too."

The words slipped out before she could stop them, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears, her face so red she thought she would burst into flames any moment now.

"You – You do?"

"I – Yeah."

"So, _uh_, would you, _um…_ like to… (_Shit this is hard_) go – out – with – me?"

"I think so? – Yes."

Lucy played with the long sleeve of her pink flannel pyjamas.

"Really?!"

"Ahuh…"

There was a yell that caused Lucy to jump high off her seat.

"I – I can tell people, right?!"

"Well, I guess they'll find out one way or another. Better get it over with now rather than later."

_Online-Offline_

Lucy couldn't think straight, the words of her science text book seemed to float off the page, the lesson on something or another flowing right in one ear and out the other. Her notes just a scrawled mess of random words, some of which she hadn't even remembered writing, like a certain pink haired boys name.

"_I'll meet you after school today, k? And we'll have a, uhm, date?"_

Lucy looked up at the clock, _"Come on! Move faster!"_ she was a bundle of excitement and nerves, the butterflies in her stomach becoming more intense with each passing minute. This wasn't her first date, and Natsu was by far not her first boyfriend, but none of the others had ever made those little flying creatures that called her stomach home this hyperactive. She sighed, trying once more to take down notes, but she was completely failing.

"You can borrow my notes, Lu."

Levy had lent over slightly, moving along one of the long tables that lined the science lab, a sly smile on her face.

"Th- thanks Levy."

Levy smiled a little larger at Lucy's stutter sliding her notes over just a little so that Lucy could read and copy them, but this proved to be just as hard as writing her own.

"- and that brings me to this month's project. You will be working in pairs – "Lucy and Levy hooked their arms around each other "That have already been decided." The class groaned, looking at each other sadly and the teacher a little angrily. "When I call out your name, find your partner please."

Slowly pairs were named;

"Sarusuke Falcon with Levy McGarden."

"No, not Jet…"

Levy groaned as a boy with spikey yellow blonde hair beamed, the larger dark haired boy sitting next to him shrinking in his seat slightly. Levy's own personal fan-club and borderline stalkers, sighing Levy gathered up her things and Lucy couldn't help but give a breathy giggle under her breath.

"Jellal Fernandes with Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy glanced around the class room, her eyes falling on the furthest corner from where she sat, her eyes meeting soft brown. The dark blue haired teen carefully gathering up his books and notes before striding across the room, looking down at his feet the whole way, placing his things on the table next to Lucy and sitting next to her.

"We'll be a good team, ok?"

Lucy tried her best to sound convinced of that, he looked up at her, a little smile on his face that was so small Lucy was sure if she hadn't have been sitting next to him she wouldn't have seen it and she smiled back. Glancing downwards Lucy saw the pages of notes he had taken and her head started to spin, the handwriting was an elegant cursive, filled with terms and words she wasn't sure she'd ever seen before, her face turning red when she looked down at her own messy, and useless notes.

"_Uh,_ my notes aren't very good…"

She watched his brown eyes glance over her page for a moment and she felt the urge to cover the paper with her hands, one particular place on the page she didn't want him to see.

"It's ok, we can use mine."

He didn't raise an eyebrow or even so much as bat an eyelid at the things Lucy had written there, and Lucy wasn't sure if she should be more embarrassed by that or relieved.

"Sorry, I normally do a better job than this. I've been distracted."

"This class isn't very interesting, anyway."

This was the most she'd ever heard Jellal talk, he spoke quietly but his words were clear all the same. She wasn't sure if he was shy exactly though, he wasn't avoiding conversation, just more quiet and reserved than anything. They chatted quietly to each other, still able to hear one another over the loud chatter of the rest of the room.

"Um, Jellal, can I ask you a question?"

"You can."

"Do you know someone called Erza Scarlet?"

Jellal's face turned so red that the tattoo that sat over his eye became almost invisible, and Lucy had to bite back a laugh, it was kind of cute.

"You – You know Erza?"

"Yeah, we play a game online together." Somehow, telling Jellal that she played an online game wasn't nearly as bad as telling some of her other friends, or, god forbid, _Levy_.

"I didn't know you played…"

"You play, too?"

He nodded, the redness in his face dying down a little. "We – we used to live next door to each other when we were kids."

"Oh, ok. She asked me if I knew you the other day. I was just wondering how you guys knew each other."

The redness was almost completely gone from his face;

"You like her, don't you?"

Jellal became completely red once more, pulling his jumper over his mouth, trying to shrink away.

"I think she likes you, too."

All he could do was nod, hiding down into his jumper more. _"I can see why Erza likes him, he's kinda sweet."_

* * *

_A/N: kekekekeke and you all wanted some NaLu action didnt you? :P Not yettttttt... Anyway, I was surprised to find out Jet's real name when I was double checking up on his colour scheme and what kind of last name I should give him, he doesn't really take me as a Sarusuke._


	13. Bandages

Lucy gave a happy hum and skip as she shut her locker, swinging her bag over her shoulder, a silly little smile on her face as she followed the crowds of students that made their way out of the school. Levy walking next to her, that sly smile back on her face as she looked up at her best friend.

"You're excited."

Lucy laughed; "Yeah. Kinda worried too."

"Why?"

"Well, he's never been on a date before. I'm kinda worried about what he's got planned."

Lucy's mind strained at the kind of things that Natsu might consider to be romantic but kept coming up blank. As the girls walked through the large glass doors of the main high school building they were greeted with loud yelling, their schoolmates running around and making a circle around something that was down the driveway, the yells becoming tangible as they moved closer.

"Fight! Fight!"

So much for the refined upper-class genius' the school was supposed to be known for, Lucy was about to make some smart comment to Levy about how easy it as for these "elitist snobs" to become just like anyone else when her stomach dropped. Her bag slipped off her shoulder slightly as she started to run, hearing Levy cry out behind her as she tried to keep up, Lucy forced her way through the tight circle that had formed, elbowing and kneeing whoever she had to so she could push her way through. That feeling in her stomach confirmed when she broke through the crowd and there he was, dropped down in a fighting position, spikey pink hair out of place and forming bangs around his face, a black hoodie discarded a few feet away, a red liquid running its way down the exposed part of his arm from a small, but nasty looking, gash. His teeth bared in a snarl as that unsettling look in his dark eyes was directed at a teen across from him. Lucy had never seen him before, and she quickly knew he didn't attend Era; he wasn't dressed in the uniform. He had long black hair, so thick it almost looked like a mane, a few marks and gashes of his own running up equally muscular arms, his lips set in a mocking smirk, silver studs that ran along the bridge of his nose and where is eye brows should have been shining in the low sunlight. Piercing red eyes narrowed at Natsu before him, and she heard Levy give a little gasp as she appeared at her side. There was a moment of stillness before the boys launched themselves at each other again, the crowd yelling out in a cheer, and Lucy's stomach flip-flopped. The Natsu that was before her was not the Natsu she knew, he was aggressive, brutal, and almost scary, she was sure he was giving low and primal growls as he dodged and tried to deliver blows of his own, cringing as an "ooooh" echoed around the crowd as Natsu landed a particularly nasty looking blow to the other boys jaw, only to get kicked in his own by a large boot covered food, knocking him backwards slightly, skidding to a stop before turning his head away and spitting, Lucy noticing something red coming out of his mouth as he did so.

"Lu… we have to…"

Levy's voice was shaking in fear, her hands holding her backpack strap so tight her knuckles had turned white.

"_Na –_ Natsu!"

Her voice yelled across the fight like a whip, and suddenly she felt hundreds of eyes on her, but she was only watching onyx ones, the fire dulling when he caught her own chocolate brown ones.

"Lucy…"

His voice was horse and dry, and filled with regret, this was not how the afternoon was supposed to go. She frowned at him before turning to a random part of the circle;

"Shows over, go home."

The words came out in a growl like tone Lucy didn't know she had, there were a few mumbled objections but the circle slowly broke, leaving Lucy, Natsu, Levy and the other teen standing alone, only the last few stranglers of students that likely hadn't even seen the fight left passing them. Lucy huffed at Natsu for a moment before stomping up to him, roughly taking his hand and pulling him back towards the school building.

"Lu-"

"Sh! Levy, bring the other guy."

Lucy didn't notice the flush that appeared on her best friend's face when she had trusted that job to her, nor the slightly offended look at the taller teen for being called "the other guy." Natsu didn't protest Lucy's hold or pull on him, chewing the inside of his mouth as she pulled him through the school doors, before being shoved into a room next to the buildings front office. She shoved him down into a seat, glancing over at Levy as she guided her charge into the same room, far less forcefully than Lucy had done before dropping her bag to the floor and wandering around the small room, gathering up bandages and antibacterial wipes. Handing some of her treasures over to Levy who had somehow pulled the other teen into the next section of the room, hidden by a floral curtain, she sat down next to Natsu, roughly pulling his face in close and scrubbing some of the grazes there with a wipe.

"Ah, Luce'! Those things hurt."

"Don't be a baby."

She scrubbed his face a little harder,

"Please don't be mad, Luce'."

Lucy gave a little snort; "Mad? Why would I be mad?"

Natsu's eyes became a little downcast at the sentence that was so thick with sarcasm, hissing slightly as she started to scrub at the nasty wound on his arm.

"You could at least tell me _why_ you started to brawl in the driveway."

"_Uhm…_ I don't know exactly."

She gave his nose a little flick while pulling away after placing a bandage on a larger cut on his forehead; "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't really remember? I snuck outta school so I'd be here on time, I got here with a little while to spare, but he'd"

Natsu jerked his head to the curtain; shadows could be seen dancing there along with a grumbled sentence. "That stings, Shrimp."

"Followed me here I guess. I think he might have said something, I dunno, and I punched him in the face."

Lucy put her palm to her forehead and gave a little groan;

"Is he the same guy who you'd stuffed worms in his locker?"

"Yeah."

Lucy nodded, continuing her administrations to Natsu's scrapes and cuts, shoving his hoodie into his arms when she was done.

"I – I'm really sorry Lucy." He rubbed the back of his head; "I had wanted to surprise you and take you to this coffee place I know… or maybe to South Gate 'cos that's where we first met face to face."

Lucy tried not to let the sweet sentiment get to her, she was mad at him, no time to think about how adorable and surprising his ideas had been.

"Say 'ah'."

"Wha?"

"You spat blood out; now open your mouth before I open it for you."

Lucy wasn't sure what she was looking for, or even if getting him to open his mouth was a good idea, but he did it anyway and she scooted in closer, barely noticing that she had placed her hand on his thigh and that her breasts were pressed up against his own chest, his tongue had a little cut on it, leading her to assume that he must have bitten it when the kick to the jaw had hit. She moved to pull away only to have her face captured by large, warm, calloused hands, blushing she finally realised the position she had placed herself in, slowly moving her eyes upwards to look into his. There was a fire in his dark eyes, but not the same as the one that she had seen moments ago, it was different, it made those butterflies in her stomach return ten-fold, along with an odd warmth. She had wanted to gasp, and move, away from him or closer, she wasn't sure, but all coherent thought she could have had was over ridden when his lips came crashing down on hers, the butterflies in her stomach now having some kind of party as the heat intensified. Her body moving of its own accord as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in towards the kiss. He was in experienced, his lips tentatively moving along hers, causing Lucy to take the lead, parting her lips lightly she rubbed her tongue against his lips, gently flicking and rubbing causing him to open with a gasp, before she moved her tongue inside his mouth, humming a little when she heard him give a low moan when she started to rub against his own tongue.

"_Cough."_

They shot apart, looking around to find the owner of that horribly interrupting cough. Levy and the dark haired teen had come around from behind the curtain, similar looking smiles on their faces, Levy's hands locked behind her back while his were crossed over his chest.

"You looked like you were eating her face."

"Shut up, Gajeel."

Natsu grabbed one of the unopened packets of bandages that had been left disregarded next him and threw it at Gajeel's head, only to have it land on the linoleum floor with a disappointing "flop" a few feet away from its intended target.

* * *

_A/N: There you go guys :P I'm still a bit of a tease though, kehe._


	14. The Inner Workings of Natsu Dragneel

_Interlude._

* * *

The whole bed shifted a couple of feet as he crashed on top of, ignoring the pain that shot up his arm as he landed on it.

"I'm such an idiot!"

An odd tingling feeling traced its way across his lips for a moment; _"A lucky idiot…"_ Food was awesome, the game was fun, fighting got his blood pumping but _nothing_ had ever felt the same way as that kiss had. He had shocked himself when he had suddenly slammed his lips into hers, one moment she had been inspecting the inside of his mouth for some reason and the next he was kissing her, trying not to jump when her tongue had started to poke and probe at his mouth. Kissing was fucking awesome. Lucy had forced him to go home after that, no matter how much he apologized, and begged, to let the afternoon continue. He supposed her decision was fair enough though, even though he had "eaten her face" as Gajeel had so eloquently put it, she was still mad at him. The guy that was supposedly considered his "closest friend" had teased him about it the whole walk home, and it took all his self-control, which was very little, not to jump him and pick up where the fight back where Lucy had interrupted. Grunting at Wendy when he had barged his way through the front door when she had politely asked why he was home so soon and why his arm was wrapped up in a bandage, ignoring her when she had asked the question again, storming his way upstairs and into his bedroom. He'd have to apologize to her later; he hated treating her like that seeing as she always instantly assumed that she'd done something wrong. Groaning he rolled himself over onto his side, absentmindedly patting Happy who was curled up there, seemingly unbothered by the beds moment when he had flopped himself on it. An image slowly floating its way into his mind as he scratched the cats head between his ears, a certain impressive set of cleavage in a revealing blue and white top floated there for a moment, the flushed face of Lucy appearing a few seconds later causing an odd warm feeling in his stomach, pulling his hand away from Happy's head as if he'd been burnt. If Lucy ever worked out that he had actually made Happy bite his ear so she'd take him off his shoulder, just so Happy would wiggle his way into her chest like he knew he would, so he could get a sneaky touch of those things he'd wanted to take a hold of the moment she had fallen on top of him when they had tripped down the staircase she'd likely kill him and never talk to him ever again. He wasn't sure about what order she'd do that in, though. He was actually kind of surprised that she had even let him place his hand anywhere near there, he smirked, being pegged as a naïve guy did have its benefits. Sure, innuendo and suggestion often flew right over his head, but he was a full blooded teenage boy, and had his own fair share of dirty magazines hidden around his bedroom. Even if he'd never had any kind of interaction of _that kind_ with girls before. Hell, he hadn't told Lucy at the time, but that had been his first kiss, though he was pretty sure she knew that. Scratching one of the scuffs that sat on his face he sat up, pulling his socks off and ripping off his shirt that had been covered in sweat from the fight and throwing it on some space of floor in his room, the place never stayed clean for long. The door creaked open for a moment and he glared at it, there was a squeak and the door shut quickly again;

"I'm not mad at you."

The door opened once more and the young blue haired girl shrinked her way inside, looking down at her own small bare feet while her face was kind of red.

"Are you sure?"

He got of the bed with a squeak, stumbling over to Wendy and putting his arms around her in a brotherly hug.

"I'm sure. Just did something stupid today, that's all."

Wendy shifted around in his arms; putting her own around him as well her little limbs would let her.

"You're always doing stupid stuff."

"Shut up…"


	15. The Invitation?

_A/N: I wanna thank you all so much! The support for my work has just been overwhelming! Everyday I'm getting new favourites and follows, not to mention those awesome reviews you guys leave me and it makes me feel really happy that I've been able to capture and entertain so many of you with something I'm just doing for my own amusement. I'm not sure how much longer Online-Offline is going to be going on for, I have an idea for an ending in mind, well, two actually, and I'm not sure which one to pick, seeing as one of them might have the portability to lead to a sequel. But, thats a little ways off yet! Once again thank you guys so much! This is my longest, and most popular, posting to FFnet and I really love you guys!_

_I didnt expect to get this done tonight, I'm supposed to be in bed, I've already been complained at by someone I live with, so please enjoy this and look forward for the update tomorrow, something I am really looking forward to writing!_

* * *

Lucy slammed her keys down on the table that sat near the front door, grumbling to herself as she pulled off her blazer and hug it up on the coat stand, easily noticing the black coat of the house keeper and the lacking expensive trench coat that belonged to her father. She bit her lip as she trudged her way to her bedroom, maybe she shouldn't have told him to go home, she'd been _so_ looking forward to seeing him after school but he just had to go and ruin it by getting into a fight over something he couldn't even remember. Her phone gave a cheerful little ring in her pocket and she slid it out as she opened the door to her bedroom.

* * *

_From Levy:_

_Are you with Natsu still?_

* * *

Grumbling to herself a little more she shut the door and slid the lock, texting back furiously with one hand.

* * *

_No I told him to go home why?_

* * *

Sliding her uncomfortable school shoes off she sat down onto her pink office chair, bashing the power button of her computer with her foot as the phone she held in her hand gave a little buzz.

* * *

_Do you know who that guy was that he was with? Gajeel I think his name was._

* * *

Tugging off her vest she texted back, only pausing when she pulled it over her head.

* * *

_One of Natsu's friends. Well I think they're friends. He told me they fight a lot. Why?_

* * *

The reply that came was extremely quick;

* * *

_No reason!_

* * *

An evil looking smile crossed Lucy's lips as she stopped her after school ritual of getting more comfortable, her thumbs moving furiously over the touch screen of her phone.

* * *

_Oooooo, you like him!_

_I don't!_

_Yes you do! You like the way he calls you Shrimp!_

_DO NOT!_

_I can ask Natsu if he has a girlfriend the next time I talk to him_

_LUCY!_

* * *

Lucy laughed rather loudly, this was her payback for all those looks Levy kept giving her after she'd met Natsu that day, and that smart assed, "I knew it" she had given when Lucy had announced her relationship. The whole thing considered "official" now seeing as Natsu and Lucy had added each other as their respective partners on multiple social networking websites. Doing this, however, had caused random people, whom Lucy was only connected though by these websites coming up to her and asking about whom this "Natsu Dragneel" was and how come they'd never heard of him before. This had been nothing, though, compared to the uproar that had been caused in game when Lucy, after sitting in silence after her and Natsu's admissions and sudden "get together" for a while, reloaded the game and typed in that she had Natsu were now officially in a relationship, forced to take the brunt of the jokes, questions and innuendo alone seeing as he was still banned for blowing up the city. Though most of these comments were based around the fact that everyone seemed to know they both had a thing for each other long before they had even met face to face, his ban lifting not long after the conversation had died out, cheerfully telling the guild that the game developers had decided it wasn't really his and Gray's fault for blowing up the city, that they should have calibrated the values better. Finally out of her school uniform and into a comfortable tank top and skirt Lucy continued to type away on her phone to Levy, while skimming around the internet for anything interesting before she was ready to head in game and check on her character for the day. Spinning herself around rather childishly on her chair she pulled herself in closer to the computer desk, ready to load up the game only to be stopped by a swift, but loud knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"It's your Father. We need to talk, Lucy."

Giving a little hum at her father's words she walked over and unlocked her bedroom door. Her father was still dressed in his coat, and almost looked as if he had just come home.

"Is everything ok, Daddy?"

The tall blonde haired man didn't reply, simply holding his own phone out in front of him, the screen in Lucy's eyeshot.

_Lucy Heartfilia is in a relationship with Natsu Dragneel. (20 people like this.)_

Underneath the posting was a picture of taken that day they had met at the park, Wendy was swinging off one of Natsu's large arms while he had the other wrapped around Lucy's waist, pulling her in close while her one of her own arms sat on his opposite shoulder, her other hand up near her face fingers posed in "peace."

"Who is he?"

The phone was pulled away and placed back in the coat pocket, the brown eyes of Jude Heartfilia burning in a quiet kind of rage.

"He is –"

"How long?"

"A few week – "

"What school does he go to?"

"Mag – "

"Does he work?"

"No, he –"

"What do his parents do?"

"His Dad is a –"

"Why haven't I met him yet?"

"Daddy!" Lucy's cheeks had turned red and she crossed her arms over her chest, swinging her hip out to the side.

"Well?"

"He's a friend of a friend of mine" _"Yes, say the same thing Natsu did." _"We've been dating a few weeks but we've known each other for at least a year now. He goes to Magnolia High. He doesn't work because both his parents do and someone has to look after his little sister. His Dad is a police officer and his Step-Mom is a nurse."

"Invite him over."

Her arms fell from her chest.

"What?"

"Invite him over, Lucy. Next week, Saturday. Dinner."

"But –"

"No buts, girl! I have a right to meet the man that wishes to date my daughter."

Lucy huffed and made a grumpy face; _"Sure, 'cos it's not like it's MY choice or anything."_

"Lucy Heartfilia, do not give your father that look!"

He didn't give her a chance to reply, instead turning on his heel and heading down the hallway to his office, leaving Lucy to slam her bedroom door shut, locking it once more and sliding down it, bringing her knees to her chest.

"He's not gonna like him…"

_Online-Offline_

"Gray, watch your flank, adds are coming up."

"On it."

"Natsu, make sure to take them down as quick as you can."

"Alright!"

"Lucy, be sure to watch your magic output, you're going to need all you can for phase three."

"I've got Magic Drain enabled."

The sounds of pops and special effects played in Lucy's headset while he fingers quickly tapped over her keys with quick precision. Brown eyes completely focused on the screen in front of her, fixated on the many coloured bars that sat around her screen. Moving her character every once and while to make sure she didn't stand in anything that would cause herself unnecessary damage.

"Natsu, get out of the poison."

"In a sec."

"You're gonna die if you don't move."

"Just gimme' a sec, I've almost got 'em."

Lucy groaned as, despite her best efforts, the little red bar that indicated the amount of health that Natsu's character had ticked down to zero, an all too familiar sound of his character falling in battle playing in her ears, quickly followed by a similar one by Gray's character who had been overwhelmed by the monsters Natsu was supposed to be taking out, Lucy franticly grabbing her mouse and clicking buttons and pressing keys as fast as she could but to no avail as her character soon fell.

"We're wiping."

Erza's character stopped all action, letting the smaller monsters crowd her, along with the boss whom she'd been occupying the whole time, not moving out of the purple mist that signified a poison cloud, her character falling just a few moments later.

"Natsu, you're supposed to listen to your girlfriend when she tells you to move."

"Shut up, Underpants."

"He is correct, Natsu. If you had have listened to Lucy we wouldn't have had to wipe, you're in charge of repair bills."

"Oh come on! I'm completely broke!"

"Well then, maybe you should listen to me next time."

"Whatever… Hey Luce', do we _really_ have to go shopping?"

"You're going with Lucy shopping?" Gray made a sound that imitated a whip.

"Remind me I owe you a punch in the face next time I see you, Ice Princess. At least _I_ spend time with my girlfriend, has Juvia worked out you hide in the janitors' closet yet?"

"No, and don't you dare tell her, shit-for-brains."

"Yes, Natsu, we really have to go shopping. You want to make a good impression, don't you?"

"_No."_

"Impression on whom?"

"My dad. He's invited, well, more like demanded Natsu come around for dinner next Saturday."

"You need to find him something more appropriate to wear." Erza's comment was rather deadpan.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

"Seriously? You're meeting her dad, idiot. He's some kind of major business big-wig. He's not gonna be impressed if you turn up in jeans and a hoodie."

"Someone who can't keep his own clothes on can't talk."

"Where are you taking him, Lucy?"

"Hadn't really decided yet."

"Gray and I will join you."

"What?!" Three voices made the voice chat crackle and pop;

"Why do I have to go?!" "I'd rather do it with Natsu alone." "Na-uh! You are not coming with us!"

"Don't be silly, it will be a good team bonding exercise. We'll all meet at that coffee shop on the corner of the main road near the turn off into Strawberry Street at ten." Erza's voice left no room for argument.


	16. Team Bonding Exercise

_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated as much today my dear readers, the day as been a little bit hectic for me! (And then I found out that FT 329 came out in the middle of this and my mind was just doing its "what if" session.)_

* * *

The time hadn't even hit nine am and Lucy had already had an eventful day. She had woken earlier than normal, her sleep had been restless and she'd been unable to get to sleep once the first rays of sun hit her through her bedroom window. She eventually spent most of the morning slowly getting ready, an odd mixture of dread and excitement running through her. Rushing out of the front door without so much as a word of goodbye to her father when her phone buzzed with a message she had been waiting for. Finding Natsu standing with his arms crossed over his chest and an angry expression on his face.

"It won't be so bad." Lucy stood on her tippy-toes when she reached him, making her the perfect height to give him a peck on his cheek, stopping him when he leaned in for something with little more substance.

"Dad's likely watching."

"Let 'im."

He placed his hand on her chin and pulled her in closer, Lucy humming when their lips met _"He's getting better at this."_ She pulled away before he had wanted her to and he gave a low growl.

"You're late."

They eased into step together, not holding hands but walking so close to each other they might as well have been.

"Yeah… Happy wouldn't let me leave…?"

"Are you sure you didn't sleep in?"

"Maybe a little."

"We're not gonna make it in time if we walk all the way."

"We'll be late then."

"Sure, we can be late. It's not like Erza will kick our asses or anything…"

Natsu's face dropped, his skin becoming a few shades paler;

"We have to catch the bus, don't we?"

"Oh, it's not that bad."

"Yes it is."

They came up on the bus stop and Lucy almost had to hold Natsu in place, he looked as if he was about to bolt down the street any moment.

"Why don't you like busses anyway?"

"I get sick."

Lucy almost had to smile at the cuteness of it all;

"You get car sick?"

"Car sick, bus sick, boat sick, bike sick, anything that moves with me in it sick."

She smiled at the teen next to her, absentmindedly playing with the white scarf that sat around his neck, the item of clothing apparently a favourite.

"It's not a long ride, you'll be ok."

He wasn't ok. Lucy had to pull him on the bus when it arrived, forcing him down on the seat next to her as the bus started to move forward, his face instantly turning a sickly green colour, his eyes becoming completely dilated, head flopping rather violently on her shoulder.

"Wow, you do get sick."

"_Shh-ut –u-p."_

"Here."

She helped him ease his way downwards, so he was half lying half sitting on the chair, his head in her lap.

"_Wha-doin?"_

"Shh."

She slipped his scarf off, lifting his head for a moment before placing the folded item under his head, before starting to massage his scalp with her hand, placing her other hand over his stomach, the action causing some of the older passengers of the bus to smile at the couple.

"_Mmm. _Feels good."

"Feeling better?"

"A little. Don't stop."

Natsu practically screamed in triumph when they got off the bus, a few streets away from the place Erza had decided they would meet, they could have ridden the whole way, but Lucy wasn't sure how much longer her attempt at easing his sickness would last for, and the bus ride had now given them time to spare.

"Luce'!" He turned on her, scooping her up in his arms and spinning with her; "Next time I _have_ to go somewhere on one of those things you _have _to come!" He placed her down with a large grin; "I've tried like, everything!"

Lucy could only smile at him, handing him back his scarf, _"Gosh, he's such a child."_ They started to make their way down the old style cobblestone streets that made up the centre of Magnolia and its main shopping district.

"_Uhm..._ Lucy?"

She looked over at him as they walked;

"I don't, _uh_… I mean, Dad kinda found out about the other day, and _uh,_ we're supposed to be getting me clothes right and I..."

"Don't be silly. I'm making you do this aren't I? Well, Daddy is but that's beside the point." Pulling out her purse from her hand bag, she clipped it open and slipped out one of the plastic cards that sat there. "It's on me."

"But, I –"

"It's fine, Natsu. It's not _my_ card anyway. I told Daddy I needed to go shopping yesterday, he has one of his business partners coming around today and he likes to get me out of his hair when that happens. Just as long as you don't go picking Armani it's no problem."

"What's an Armani?"

Lucy laughed; "Expensive designer clothing." She looked up at the old style wooden sign that hung out over the street; "I think this is the place Erza wants us to meet." Lucy sighed; "She doesn't really get the idea of a date, does she?"

"This – this was supposed to be a date?"

She giggled at his reaction; "Well, yes and no. I would have taken you some where nice for lunch afterwards. I don't think you'll enjoy the shopping part very much."

Natsu grumbled something in reply, but it was jumbled and completely intelligible. Glancing into the large window of the coffee shop Lucy noticed it was almost empty of people, the tables and chairs were miss-matched and worn, but it somehow gave the place a homely feel instead of a run down one. The few people that actually were inside the shop were families, parents with young children, seemingly being delighted by their own fake miniature cappuccinos. The counter and coffee machines were being tended by a white haired young lady, maybe only just out of her teenage years. Her hair was long and slightly wavy, the part of her hair that could have been considered her fridge was tied up in a band, pointing upwards and flopping to the side slightly. She had a smile on her face as she talked to someone that was near the counter, their back was to the window, but the long scarlet red hair was instantly recognizable. Taking Natsu's hand in hers she pulled him into the shop, just in case he decided that the whole thing was stupid and tried to make a run for it, and try and pull Lucy with him. The bell that sat above the door gave a cheerful chime as it opened, drawing attention to their entrance, Erza jumping a little when she heard it, her face bright red.

"Good Morning." Lucy felt something catch in her throat as she recognized the cheerful voice, _"Oh god…"_

"Hey! Sitri! You work here?!"

Natsu bounded over the counter, pulling Lucy with him so fast that when he came to a stop she almost had her stomach smacked into the counter.

"My siblings and I own this place." She tapped her finger on the nametag that sat on her chest, _Mirajane. _"Call me Mira, it just confuses people otherwise."

Mira smiled just a little larger when she noticed hands interlocked making Lucy's face turn bright red.

"I –"Erza cleared her throat, forcing the blush away from her face; "I thought you'd be late."

"I made him punctual."

Lucy felt herself swell with a little bit of pride, whenever Natsu was in charge of getting himself some place without the aid of his immaculately punctual little sister, him turning up late was almost a complete given. Natsu only replied by mumbling something about busses.

"I always knew you'd be good for him, Lucy."

Mira winked, the redness Lucy's face was gaining at too fast of a rate, distracting her from the fact that Mira had known her real name.

"Well…"

Her attempt at some kind of reply was interrupted as the door opened once more, the happy little chime over ridded by the sound of someone running at full speed through the door. Gray Fullbuster, panting, his face flushed red and already missing his tee-shirt, stood in the doorway for a moment before making a dive to hide behind the counter, only to be caught by a pale arm, two bodies smacking down on the treated wooden floor with a thud and a smack. A girl dressed in blue was on top of him, rubbing her face furiously into the crook of his neck, her curled dark blue hair somehow still perfectly in place.

"_Wahh! _Juvia!" His voice was muffled from being slammed on the ground under the girl's weight. "Get off!"

There was a gasp as the girl quickly clambered off of his bare back, a small hand brought up to her mouth in worry.

"Juvia didn't hurt my dear Gray did she?"

"No, I'm fine."

Gray groaned a little as he pulled himself off the ground, rubbing his knee as he did so, his leg had hit the floor particularly hard. Lucy unlocked her hand from Natsu's so he could help Gray up, only to have her movement blocked by a very sudden face in her own, noses almost touching.

"Who are you?"

Lucy look a little step back, those dark blue eyes were a little unsettling.

"Lucy…?"

She glanced over at Gray for a moment, who looked rather resigned, as if expecting something, before she glanced up at Natsu, who seemed completely and utterly amused, trying to send some kind of telekinetic plea for help.

"How do you know Gray?!"

"We met online…?"

Dark blue eyes narrowed; "Love rival." The words had almost been whispered, but Lucy had easily heard them, along with the pink haired boy beside her.

"No, I –"Arms suddenly enveloped her;

"Mine."

In any other situation Lucy would have been seriously pissed off at Natsu's sudden possessiveness, but when being cornered by some crazed girl whom had instantly assumed she was trying to have a relationship with, or was already in a relationship with the guy she apparently obsessed over, she can let a possessive streak slide. The girls dark blue eyes suddenly became lighter, the glare gone, replaced with a happy smile.

"Oh! Juvia didn't know!" She took a couple of steps back to stand next to Gray, "Juvia is Juvia! It's nice to meet you Lucy!"

Lucy could only nod, placing a hand on one of Natsu's large arms in an attempt to free herself from his hold, glancing upwards when he didn't budge, dark eyes glaring at Gray who had a look on his face as if to say _"Don't be stupid."_

"Ahem…" Erza's cough caused them all to turn, Natsu finally letting Lucy free of his tight hug, but taking up her hand on the way down, Lucy got the feeling he wasn't going to let go any time soon. "Seeing as we're now all here and don't want to cause Mira anymore trouble, we should get going." She looked at Juvia for a moment; "Are you joining us, Juvia?"

The girl in question blinked her eyes for a moment; "Huh?"

"We're taking Natsu clothes shopping." Erza looked Gray up and down for a moment, topless and in worn dark coloured baggy cargo pants; "Gray wouldn't do bad by picking up something new either."

"Shopping with Gray?" Her face lit up as if she was a kid on Christmas morning, while Gray looked utterly terrified. "Juvia would love to come!"

_Online-Offline_

The experience hadn't been as bad as Lucy had been expecting. For a subconscious stripper Gray had amazing dress sense, pulling an outfit off the racks that lined the men's ware store after the girls had stood there staring at the clothes for a good ten minutes, thrusting the outfit into Natsu's arms and telling him to try it on. Natsu coming out of the dressing room dressed in a simple, but impressive outfit. It had been half a suit, just the pants and vest, along with a white dress shirt, it had been long sleeved but Natsu had rolled the sleeves up just to his elbow. Gray had also given him a red tie, but he had come out holding it in his hand.

"I dunno how to do these things."

Lucy was left completely speechless, _"Oh… wow…"_ and stood there gaping at him for a moment. Erza had taken a few strides over, and was about to take the tie out of Natsu's hand to tie it for him.

"Wait!"

Her voice came out horse, and she cleared her throat for a moment, hoping that none of them could tell how turned on she was look at him in that moment. She pushed herself past him a little and into the dressing room, grabbing up the item she was looking for before moving to stand in front of him, she undid the first few buttons on the shirt, before draping the scarf around his neck, blushing when her hand had run against the length of his chin, both staring at each other for a few moments;

"Hmm." Erza's voice broke them out of their trance; "Good idea Lucy."

"This way you don't have to get someone to tie your tie for you either."

He didn't say anything, though he looked as if he had wanted to. She was about to ask him what he was thinking before Juvia's voice interrupted her.

"Gray! You should try this on for Juvia!"

Natsu's face contorted with laughter, a smirk falling on Lucy's face while Erza turned bright red. Gray almost tackling Juvia and the awfully suggestive item of clothing she had picked up, his own face so red it looked like his head was about to burst.

* * *

_A/N: Yes that is the outfit from the Magic Ball episode of the Anime. _


	17. Good Enough

_A/N: This was requested in one of my reviews and I shall oblige! Here is a list of introduced characters, what there usernames are and what there real names are, if they've been revealed yet, and those who dont play._

_Salamander - Natsu (obviously)_

_StellarHime - Lucy_

_Crystallos - Gray_

_Titania__ - Erza (again, kind of obvious.)_

_Sitri - Mirajane_

_Lumen - Unknown (Clue, member of Fairy Tail, someone whom Natsu constantly challenges and has only beaten once, with aid.)_

___Jutsu - Unknown (Clue, member of Fairy Tail and part of the __Raijinshū, "fawns over Lumen")_

_____Leo - Unknown (but kind of obvious that its Loke)_

_____Unrevaled Username - Jellal_

_____Parents, Wendy, Levy and Gajeel are all non players._

* * *

Lucy had never been so tense in her life; it almost hurt her back to be sitting up to straight, her stomach hurting due to the fact she _really_ needed the bathroom but just couldn't trust her company enough to leave. She never thought the sound of a clock ticking could be so irritating either. She'd been feeling tense all Saturday, and things had only gotten worse when the meeting between her Father and her Boyfriend began. After exchanging curt introductions they had moved into the larger sitting room of the large house that sat near the dining room and kitchen, sitting in complete silence. Natsu sat next to her, his face looked relaxed but his hands were so tightly fisted that she knew he'd have little nail marks in his palms, dressed in the outfit she had bought him the week before, looking exactly the way he had when he had come out of the dressing room, she had expected the clothes to become wrinkled, considering how he seemed to treat his clothing, but they were immaculate, leading her to assume that Grandeeney, or even Igneel, had ironed it for him. Her father sat across from them, in a high backed armchair, his eyes never leaving Natsu's.

"So, Lucy tells me you attend Magnolia High."

Jude Heartfilia's voice was harsh over the silence;

"Yes, _sir."_ The sir had been added on at the last minute, and was almost condescending the way Natsu said it.

"One would assume you are a member of the Football team."

That wasn't a bad assumption, with his build it wasn't impossible.

"No, they won't let me play anymore. The other schools complained that I was an 'unfair advantage'."

Natsu had sounded a little proud when he had said it, but Lucy hated to think what of what he might have done to cause people to think that way. An image of Natsu with that scary dark look in his eyes running down a football field flashed in her mind, seeing that run at you would be kind of terrifying.

"I see. You have an interesting physique for someone who doesn't participate in school sports."

"I do martial arts and train with my Dad."

"Lucy told me he is a police officer, correct?"

"Yes, _sir."_

"Do you plan to follow in his footsteps?"

"I would like to."

Lucy knew that Natsu becoming a police officer like Igneel was kind of unlikely, he'd already been arrested three times, and had issues with authority, seeing him go through a police academy was almost a hilarious thought, there would be no way he would pass. A sharp pain ran all its way through Lucy's body and she couldn't take it any longer, she stood quickly and tried her best to ignore the pleading look from Natsu who didn't want her to leave she made her way out of the room, praying that nothing would happen in the few moments she was gone.

_-Natsu-_

Things had just gone from bad to worse, Lucy had gotten up and left the room, to use the bathroom no doubt, she'd been squirming in her seat for the past few minutes, he knew it'd had been minutes, he'd counted the ticks of the clock. He hadn't wanted her to leave, it wasn't that he was afraid of Lucy's father, the man was tall but looked brittle; he already knew he was the kind of guy that would threaten with the trembling power of "connections" and money, things he didn't really care about. Natsu had hated Lucy's father for ages, even before he'd met her face to face. Natsu loved the time he was able to spend with his family, they did stuff together all the time, he and his dad had spent at least one day together a month ever since his mother had died. Lucy, however, never seemed to be able to spend her time with her dad, and if she did, it was always because he wanted something of her, not because he wanted to have sometime bonding with his only child. Lucy might not have known, but one time she must have left something pressing on her keyboard when her father had called for her during a dungeon run, and the group had heard every word of their conversation. Natsu had hated the tone that he had spoken to Lucy with, like she was just some object to be used to further his career, it had been something about a dinner with someone he'd been trying to get into business with, who apparently had a daughter around Lucy's age. Lucy had been virtually commanded to make friends with the girl, so that would add pressure on the girl's father to make the deal because their daughters had become such good friends. Lucy had tried to protest, only to be harshly cut off, he had never said anything cruel, and Natsu didn't think he'd ever placed a hand on Lucy, god help him if he ever found out he had, but Lucy had sadly agreed, and when she had come back to her computer she had tried her best to sound happy and upbeat, Gray, Erza and himself all deciding without a word that if Lucy didn't want to talk about it, that they'd never bring it up. Even if every time Lucy had mentioned her father he felt something claw in his insides, and now, being face to face with the man it was ten times worse. He clenched his fists even tighter at the thoughts, the dull pricking from his nails becoming more like a sharp pain, but he ignored it, he had to be good, for Lucy's sake.

"I don't like you, boy."

Jude had stood, and was now standing next the old wood mantel piece; he was no longer looking at Natsu, but at a picture that had caught Natsu's eye as soon as he had walked into the room. Inside a round wood frame was the picture of a woman, someone who looked so like Lucy it was uncanny, but Natsu knew it wasn't her, her hair was worn up in a bun, a style Natsu had never seen Lucy wear, nor noticed Lucy ever wearing in the old pictures of her that he had found on her social networking pages, cresses from smile lines on the woman's face, making her possibly too old to be Lucy anyway, matching candles sat on both sides of the picture in elegant candleholders, and Natsu had known, it was her mother.

"I don't like you either."

Natsu himself had stood, unable to keep himself sitting now that Lucy wasn't sitting next to him, taking a few steps towards a large bay window to look out into the houses backyard, a white speck running around in the grass, Lucy's dog.

"What makes you think you're worthy of my daughter?"

"I'm not."

Natsu forced himself not to turn even though he'd felt dark brown eyes on him;

"I don't know what I did to make her like me, but I'm thankful for it every day. I've seen the kind of guys she goes to school with, the kind of guys you might think are worthy of her. I've seen the pictures of her ex-boyfriends, they are nothing like me… and I'm glad I'm not like them, if I was, then I know it would end for me just the same as it ended for them, and I am not giving Lucy up."

Natsu turned, a prickling sensation running its way up and down his neck; he must have had an odd look in his eyes because Jude seemed started for a moment.

"I'm idiotic, impulsive and immature. The way I'm going right now I'll be lucky to graduate from High School, let alone be able to do what I want to do… but there is _no way_ I am ever letting Lucy go. I don't care if you don't want me to be with her, I don't care if my parents don't want me to be with her, it won't matter what ever army you can muster stands in my way, because I am _always_ going to be by her side. I'm not letting the best damn thing to ever happen to me slip through my fingers."


	18. Reactions

_A/N: Only a little chapter here guys, I didnt realise this was going to be so small otherwise I would have put it on the end of the other one._

* * *

Lucy wasn't sure what happened while she was in the bathroom, but something must have, because when she had returned both Natsu and her father had moved and were no longer glaring at each other. Her father was staring down at Lucy's favourite picture of her mother, an expression on his face that Lucy wasn't ever sure she'd seen before; it was almost as if he'd seen a ghost. While Natsu was intently staring out into the back garden, his mouth set in a line, almost as if he was thinking deeply about something. She might have made some kind of joke to herself about Natsu _thinking about something,_ but in the situation she was more worried that something bad had happened. She never got a chance to voice her worries however, as the house keeper called that dinner was ready and the group ended up moving into the dining room. Lucy found herself blushing a little when Natsu pulled her chair out for her;

"_Since when are you such a gentleman?"_

She said this under her breath, but she knew he heard her, because he gave her a cheeky smirk as he pushed her into the table. It was then that Lucy knew something _major_ had happened when she was out of the room, Natsu and her father were engaged in _pleasant_ conversation, Natsu no longer using that snarky condescending tone and her father speaking to him as he would some of his closer business associates, the closest thing her father had to friends since her mother passed away. Honestly, it was freaking her out, she had been having nightmares ever since her father had demanded the meeting, every time the night had ended badly, sometimes worse than others, but she was no way prepared for the civilized small talk that the two men were engaging in. Her father had even _laughed_ at a story Natsu told, Lucy hadn't heard him laugh like that in such a long time.

"What did you do?"

Lucy growled this into Natsu's ear after they had finished the meal and were walking now to the small lounge room that sat in the front of the house.

"Nothing."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him;

"I didn't _do_ anything, promise."

"I don't like the way you said that."

Natsu didn't reply, only grinned, and she knew she wasn't getting any kind of answers as to what happened when she wasn't in the room any time soon.

_Online-Offline_

Lucy was exhausted, why her gym teacher had decided that today they all had to run a stupid amount of laps of the oval when she had dance practice afterwards she'd never know. Groaning she pulled her blazer off when she came in the door, it was starting to get colder outside, and the house was a little cold when she came inside, no coats hanging told her she was the only one home, and the house keeper had forgotten to put the heating on. Pulling it back on she placed her keys down, dragging her bag behind her as she walked down the hall, too exhausted to pick it up and carry it correctly. She pushed down the handle of her door half-heartedly, and used her head to push it open; _"It's only Tuseday…"_She moaned to herself before chucking her bag some random direction in her room, pulling her shoes of and making her way over to her bed, letting her weight go and falling down on it, eagerly waiting the soft mattress and comforter, only to fall something hard instead. Something that groaned.

"Oh shit!"

Energy quickly made its way back into her body at the sound of the deep noise, jumping up and backing away a few feet, her heart beating so hard that she could hear it. The lump in her bed moaned and moved around and Lucy saw a tuft of something pink stick out from under the comforter. Fear was instantly gone, replaced with irritation.

"Natsu Dragneel!"

The lump moaned again, a hand shooting up from under the covers and pulling them downwards, covering up the pink once more.

"Five more minutes…"

Lucy let out a half groan half scream and made her way back over to the bed, being as loud as she possibly could, before pulling the covers roughly off of the dozing form of Natsu, whose hand groped around a little when the warmth from over top of him was gone.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sleeping… gimme back the blanket."

He half-heartedly moved his arm so it flopped off the side of the bed, his hand flopping around a little trying to take the comforter that was completely out of his reach. Lucy sighed;

"Yes, I know you're sleeping. But why are you doing it in _my _bed, in _my _bedroom?"

"Comfy… warm… smells like Lucy."

She dropped her shoulders for a moment at the comment, _"No, he's not sweet and adorable, he broke into the house and is now sleeping in your bed, you're mad at him. – But that was the most adorable thing ever!"_ Natsu moaned again, rolling over, his eyes flickering open.

"Oh, hey Luce'."

"Did… did you _just_ wake up?"

"Huh?" He still sounded a little groggy; "Yeah… Wendy says I talk when I'm waking up, did I say something weird?"

He sat up; rubbing his eyes a little, his hair messier than normal, and flattened out where he had been lying on it. All Lucy could do was give a little huff, throwing her comforter back over the bed before placing her hands on her hips.

"I asked why you were sleeping in my bed."

"I got sleepy while I was waiting for you. Your bed is _really_ comfortable."

"Apparently it smells nice, too."

Natsu's eyes grew wide for a moment, before a blush settled onto his face, looking away from Lucy a little shyly as he rubbed under his nose.

"_He needs to stop being so damn adorable when I'm mad at him…"_


	19. Gone

He was worried, no, actually, that was an understatement, he was frantic. It wasn't like he was clingy or anything, ok, so maybe he was clingy, and protective, and possessive, but this was just too strange. At first he had thought she just must have gotten sick, she had been complaining about the cold that day she had found him in her bedroom, and it wasn't uncommon for her to just spend the whole day in bed sleeping and not contacting anyone when she was ill, but when she hadn't posted anything online for two days, no texts, and no in game messages he had started to get worried, no, frantic, that was the word he had decided upon. When the third day hit he decided to investigate, even if ditching class again would end up in his parents being called and _another_ meeting with the principle and guidance counsellor, he didn't care, she was far more important.

"You're being a naughty boy again."

The voice had come from behind him, just as he was a few streets away from Magnolia High.

"_Fuck off_, Gajeel."

"Oh, someone is in a bad mood today."

Gritting his teeth Natsu ignored him, putting his head down and walking faster, and damned Gajeel's longer legs that let him catch up far too easily.

"Going to see the bunny girl?"

"I told you to fuck off… and she's not a bunny girl."

"Gehe, sure. You can't tell me you haven't wanted to get her in bunny ears and have her jump around for you."

"_He's trying to get you angry, just ignore it. Just – ignore – it."_

"'Aight, what's wrong."

"Nothing that concerns you, mouse trap."

"Bunny girl not putting out?"

Fists and jaw clenched, _"I wanna punch him! I need – No, ignore it. I-gnore –i-t."_ Natsu took a deep breath through his teeth, relaxing his hands and walking faster still, hell, at this point he was even considering taking the bus. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he stopped, glaring at the long dark haired teen behind him, face contorted in a snarl.

"Seriously, Flame-Head. What's wrong?"

"She's gone."

"What do ya' mean, she's gone?"

"She's gone. I don't know anyone that's heard from her for three days straight."

Natsu shrugged his shoulder away, continuing his way back down the street, _"The faster I get there, the faster I can work out what's wrong."_

Natsu really wanted to punch someone, anyone really. He had reached the gates of Era Academy later than normal, Gajeel was being a pain and had followed him the whole way again, making snide comments every few moments. When they had arrived they had both leaned up on the large sign that sat near the gate, students had already started to pour out of the school and when they saw the two familiar teens they lingered a little, obviously wanting to watch round two, but it only took the smallest look from either one of them when they lingered too long for eithers liking and they quickly continued walking.

"Natsu? G-Gajeel!"

He turned to the familiar voice, trying his best to keep his face calm and composed. A small blue haired girl stood a few feet away, Levy he thought her name was, yes, that seemed right. He was kind of glad she had noticed him first, he didn't he'd be able to see her if she hadn't of, she was downright tiny.

"Where is she?"

Levy blinked for a few moments while the question registered, before her eyes started to become a little glassy;

"I don't know…" She looked down at her feet; "I haven't heard from her… and they're not calling her name on the role anymore. I asked our home room teacher where she was but he wouldn't tell me."

Natsu closed his eyes, teeth grinding across each other, _"Deep breaths. Count to ten or whatever. One, two, th- fuck this."_ With a guttural scream Natsu turned and slammed his fist into the brick sign that he had been leaning on, hitting it with such force that some of the bricks flaked and broke off, and his hand now hurt like hell. Not lingering any longer than he had to he turned on his heel and started to walk down the street, hands in the pockets of his hoodie so he could refrain from punching anyone. One place left, one place left to try and get answers.

* * *

_A/N: Uh-oh... thats all I'm gonna say :P_


	20. Sheltered

_A/N: You guys love me, dont you? :P_

_Natsu: AHH! WHERE IS LUCY!_

* * *

The house was empty, completely and utterly and void of any trace, the only indications that someone might have even lived in the large home was the dust that lingered on the floor and shelves, showing where furniture had once been. There was nothing.

_Nothing_.

"God, fucking, damn it!"

Natsu had quit long ago, and if his father had ever found out he had taken up smoking when he was younger, he shuddered to think, but he wanted a god damn cigarette so badly. Gajeel would have one, and he was ever so tempted to ask. The metal freak and Levy had both ended up following him to Lucy's house, well, what _used_ to be Lucy's house, but hadn't broken in through Lucy's be- Lucy's _old_ bedroom window like he had. He wanted to scream and cry all at once, along with the strange urge to burn the whole damn house down and sit and watch it while it did.

"_It won't matter what ever army you can muster stands in my way, because I am _always_ going to be by her side."_

His words from the Saturday prior echoed around his head like someone was taunting him, as if the universe or Lucy's father even, was trying to make him prove his words. He took a deep breath, no, it couldn't have been Jude, even if after Natsu had made his little speech the man had said nothing in return, he knew he'd somehow proved his worth, the pleasant tone he'd been able to converse in afterwards was proof enough. No, something had happened, something had happened suddenly.

_Online-Offline_

It was smelly, cold, and downright disgusting, but it wasn't like they had choice. Lucy's father had come home not long after Natsu had left, frantic and looking dishevelled, bursting into Lucy's bedroom without even knocking and scooping her up into his arms in a tight hug.

"Daddy?"

"Lucy, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

She felt something wet on her bare shoulder, was he crying?

"Daddy, what's…?"

There was a loud noise outside her bedroom, followed by tall shadows.

"The deal, it went bust… they're taking everything…"

"What – what do you mean? I thought that…"

"Bought out, completely."

It had been going on for weeks, Lucy had known but her father had been keeping most of the details secret. Heartfilia Enterprises stock was in free-fall, and her father had been doing all he could do to stop it, business deals, fending off takeover bids, and she thought he had done it, she thought he had been able to save the company he and her mother had created. Another company, Lucy didn't know its name, had been trying to topple her father for years, and this was it, they had done it. She had remembered once, she had wanted to call Levy before she had been given her own phone on her birthday and had picked up the landline only to catch part of a conversation;

"_I will take you down, Jude. I will take _everything_, your company, your home, and even your pretty little daughter."_

The words had scared her but she had pushed it to the back of her mind, even if her father had neglected her since her mother died he still loved her, and she still loved him, and she knew that no matter what he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"We have to go, Lucy, pack some things, essentials. I don't doubt he'll call the police if we linger."

"But… what about?"

"We can contact Natsu and your friends when we get settled… somewhere."

It had taken three days, three long days of sleeping on the street and using whatever little money she had her father had left for food, but they had found a homeless shelter. It was a large building, old, and looked like it had once been a bar. Lucy didn't even know that Magnolia had a homeless shelter, and she didn't think many other people did too, looking at the state of it. They had been greeted by a small old man whom Lucy found vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it, he had taken them in, fed them and then taken them to one of the rooms upstairs. It was a tiny little room; two sets of bunk beds pushed against the walls, the sheets looked clean enough though. She sat down on the bed, it was so old and worn that it sagged in the middle, and she almost toppled over when she sat. The small white dog she had been holding in her hands taking it as some kind of invitation and wiggled its way free out of her arms, bounding up onto her chest and licking her face.

"Hey, Plue~"

She picked up the squirming dog, pulling him off her chest so she could sit up, placing the dog beside her and giving a deep sigh. _"He's going to be so worried… he's gonna hate me."_ The old wooden door slowly, revealing Jude and the old man that had welcomed them.

"Please, stay as long as you need."

Jude nodded, looking exhausted and dishevelled, and Lucy could only imagine she looked the same way.

"Your father tells me you'd like to use the phone? I suspect you have someone important to call."

Lucy looked over at the old man, his words were cryptic, but Lucy was almost too tired, and too worried to care.

"Yes please."

Lucy gave her father a light hug as she walked passed, he looked as if he needed it before following the short man back down the old corridors of the shelter, it was pretty empty, Lucy had only noticed a few other people staying in the other rooms and most of them seemed to be sleeping. Lucy couldn't blame them, she wanted to curl up in a real bed, to matter how old, saggy and lumpy it was. She was taken into a small room, a few phones sat on old scuffed tables.

"Take as long as you need."

Lucy nodded as the door was closed softly behind her, slipping her phone out of her pocket as she walked, her service may have been disconnected but that didn't mean she still didn't have her contacts, sitting down she looked at the phone with hesitation for a moment before scooping it up in her hand, better now than later.


	21. Because I -

_A/N: **BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 20!** The notification email for chapter 20 didnt pop up in my email so I'm not sure if it did for anyone else too, this is likely because I posted a tease chapter before the real one. So please please_ **_PLEASE _**_make sure you've read it before you read this one!_

* * *

Her breathing was uneasy and shaky as the phone rang, she was sure her whole body was shaking, in fact.

"What!"

She flinched at the voice that finally answered the phone, he was angry.

"Na-Natsu…"

She burst into tears, unable to hold it in anymore.

"Lucy! Lucy where are you? Are you ok? Tell me where you are and I'll come and get you!"

The tears flew faster when the tone of his voice changed, and she was unable to keep in a sob.

"I'm sorry, Natsu."

"What? Why?" He paused; "Doesn't matter, where are you?!"

"A – _Sniff – _A homeless shelter."

"What?! Why?!"

What had happened to her the past few days flowed out of her mouth without her even thinking, she spoke about when her father had come home and told her he had lost everything, about their first night on the street sleeping under the tree in South Gate Park, how Plue had almost gotten run over when he had gotten spooked while they were trying to find a better place to stay. How they had been chased off when they had tried to spend the second night sleeping in a bus shelter outside an apartment building. Eventually finding the homeless shelter on the outskirts of town before her voice gave out, the only noises coming from her sobs and hiccups.

"Luce… why didn't you come here?"

"We didn't want to be a burden on anyone."

"A burden?!" His voice was raised; "You're anything but a burden, Lucy! You – "He took a slow breath, his voice returning to a more normal tone; "I – Sorry… I've been worried… but, you wouldn't have been a burden. Dad's coming to get you and your Dad, right now."

"Natsu?"

"I don't want you staying there, Luce', not when you can stay here."

"We – I can't accept that, Natsu… we'd just cause your family trouble."

"You can, and you _will_. You're _not_ a burden and you're _not_ any trouble and you never will be Lucy. I dunno if you're suffering with some kind of pride issues or something, Luce', but I don't care, there is nothing wrong in asking for help. I don't care if I have to carry you out of that place screaming, you're staying here."

A comforting feeling swelled in her stomach, tears slowly drying up.

"Natsu."

"You can _always_ stay with me Lucy, because I –

_Online-Offline_

Clothing, books, papers and even a guitar flew around the room, the sound of crashes echoing around the house, before a loud yell and the sound of something smashing. He didn't think there was a word invented for what he was feeling now, not that he knew of anyway. He had stormed through the front door of the house, opening the door so hard that it flew open and smashed on the wall, not bothering to take of his shoes even though Grandeeney would scold him for trapping mud through the house, and quite frankly, he didn't fucking care. Slamming his own bedroom door open he stormed in, his rage taking over and causing him to destroy his bedroom indiscriminately, throwing and breaking whatever he could get his hands on, smashing the lap that sat on the bed stand with his bare hand when he couldn't reach anything anymore.

"Nastu Dragneel!"

Strong arms pulled him back, forcing him down on the bed, his father glaring down at him.

"First I hear you skipped classes, again, then you come storming home and turn your bedroom into the sight of a natural disaster, smelling like you've had one of those damn smokes again. What the hell is wrong with you, boy?!"

"Lucy's gone."

Igneel's face dropped; "She… she broke up with you..?"

"No! I mean, I don't think she did… No one has heard from her in days, I left school early so I could be at hers when she was supposed to get out, but she hasn't been there. I went to her house, everything's gone."

"For how long?"

"Three days now… I've tried everything I can think of… her phones disconnected and…"

Natsu felt a tear squeeze its way out of the corner of his eye and he looked down, hoping that his hair would frame his face and hide it. The bed sagged and he felt a strong arm wrap its way around his shoulders;

"No one's heard from her?"

"Not that I know…"

"Get cleaned up, we'll go file a report. You should have told me sooner."

"I just –"The sound of his phone buzzing interrupted him, it was being called from a number he didn't know; "What!"

"Na-Natsu…"

His heart burned when he heard her voice followed by the sounds of her sobs even if his eyes did light up slightly;

"Lucy! Lucy where are you? Are you ok? Tell me where you are and I'll come and get you!"

He felt his father shift on the bed, a look of relief flooding the older man's face.

"I'm sorry, Natsu."

"What?" Sorry, why the hell was she sorry? "Why?" actually, that wasn't important "Doesn't matter, where are you?!"

"A – _Sniff – _A homeless shelter."

"What?! Why?!"

His eyes shot up at his father who instantly understood, standing off the bed in one large movement and crossed the bedroom, yelling down the hall for Grandeeney and Wendy to set up the spare room, and Natsu was thankful for moments like these when his father knew him so well. His heart breaking as he listened to Lucy's story, how could anyone be as so inhumanely cruel to not only take a man's business, his livelihood, but home as well. Waiting for a few moments in silence listening to her sobs and hiccups.

"Luce… why didn't you come here?"

"We didn't want to be a burden on anyone."

He almost choked; "A burden?! You're anything but a burden, Lucy! You – "He took a slow breath, no, she thought he was angry at her, angry at her for something she had no control over, he needed to calm down so she'd calm down too; "I – Sorry… I've been worried… but, you wouldn't have been a burden. Dad's coming to get you and your Dad, right now."

"Natsu?" She had an odd tone in her voice.

"I don't want you staying there, Luce', not when you can stay here." _"There is no way in _hell_ you are staying at a place filled with drunks and drug addicts."_

"We – I can't accept that, Natsu… we'd just cause your family trouble."

He wanted to scream, at her, in general, he didn't know, she had to be stubborn and prideful _now _of all times.

"You can, and you _will_. You're _not_ a burden and you're _not_ any trouble and you never will be Lucy. I dunno if you're suffering with some kind of pride issues or something, Luce', but I don't care, there is nothing wrong in asking for help. I don't care if I have to carry you out of that place screaming, you're staying here." _"Staying with me."_

There was a sob, a little less tear filled than the others; "Natsu."

"You can _always_ stay with me Lucy, because I –

* * *

_A/N: Is it coming? Oooo I think its coming!_


	22. I do, too

She'd been running on autopilot, walking back to the room her father and her had been given and telling him that Natsu's father would be coming to pick them up so they could stay with them. He might have protested, she didn't notice, but when Igneel had pulled up out the front of the shelter they had been ready to leave. She had been holding Plue in her arms and almost dropped him when she noticed a very sickly looking Natsu sitting in the backseat of the small car, who, despite looking like he was about to deposit the contents of his stomach onto the pavement, gave her a smile. After introducing her father to Igneel she slid into the car, sitting herself as close to Natsu as she could get, trying her best to stop her hyperactive dog from licking Natsu to death, something she didn't think he could cope with along with his motion sickness. The two fathers stood outside the car chatting for a few moments, but Lucy wasn't paying attention as Natsu flopped his head onto her shoulder, humming happily, absentmindedly placing her hand on his leg and leaning her head down onto his. Plue thought this was the best thing ever and alternated between bounding on Lucy and Natsu, attempting to get some licks in each time. It was then that Lucy really wished she had of grabbed his harness and not just his lead, forcing Lucy to make him settle onto the seat next to her, Natsu sighing happily when she returned next to him, before inhaling deeply.

"Don't. I smell."

"_Mmm_, I know. You smell like you."

"…That's not what I meant…"

"Don't care."

Lucy felt a blush settle on her face when from out of the corner of her eye she noticed both fathers looking in with smiles on their faces, Jude's was small and might have almost been considered a grimace to Igneel's large grin, but Lucy knew it was about as large as it would get.

The car ride was mostly done in silence, besides the odd groan from Natsu and the random dog noises that Plue would make and once they reached the Dragneel household Lucy felt as if she was on autopilot again, one sentence echoing over and over in her mind. The internal argument her mind was having increasing tenfold when she was able to take a desperately needed shower.

"_It's too soon."_

"_But he wouldn't know that, he's always blunt and honest."_

"_Possessive and reckless too."_

"_But that's what makes him who he is. That's what makes me like him."_

"_I'm too emotionally drained to be expected to make some kind of answer."_

"_No I'm not; I know what I want to say to him."_

"_Or do I?... We've only been dating a month or so…"_

"_But I've had a crush on him longer than that, longer than I'm willing to admit. I've known him longer than that, we've been friends for a year."_

"_This is insane."_

"_When isn't anything to do with Natsu insane?"_

Shutting the water off Lucy sighed, hugging herself as she stepped out, smiling when she noticed the clean pyjamas sitting on the counter, Wendy had knocked softly and left them on the bench for Lucy so she'd have something other than one of the three sets of clothes she had packed in the rush that had all already been worn. It was only when she picked up the top after pulling on the baggy satin pants that must have belonged to Grandeeney that she realised they hadn't been a set. It was a large black tee-shirt with a very distinctive smell, one that instantly put her to ease. Pulling the shirt on she think she finally realised the _thing_ Natsu seemed to have about her smell if it but him to ease as much as his was doing to her, she loved his smell.

_Loved his smell._

_His, Natsu's._

_She loved Natsu's smell._

She loved Natsu.

"_You can _always _stay with me Lucy, because I love you Lucy Heartfilia."_

Suddenly she was standing in front of him in his bedroom, completely ignoring the strange look he gave her when he realised she was dressed in his tee-shirt.

"I love you too, Natsu Dragneel."

* * *

_A/N: Aww, she said it! Online-Offline is drawing to a close my dear readers._


	23. Offline

Lucy hummed as she placed her backpack at her feet as she sat down on a small brick retaining wall that sat around a large tree, bending over her bag, her blonde hair falling down in front of her face and blocking the rest of the world from view, busying herself in fishing out her lunchbox from the bag.

"I think you must be new here."

She smirked at the sound of the familiar voice, tucking her hair behind her ear before sitting back up, setting her lunch box in her lap, looking right into onyx eyes.

"I am."

"I bet someone as cute as you needs someone to give a tour."

She smiled larger as her guest sat down next to her;

"That's nice of you, but I have a boyfriend."

"He's a lucky bastard, too."

Natsu leaned in close, placing his arm around her and pulling her in close so that their thighs were flush against each other, fingers slowly creeping towards the now open lunchbox that sat on Lucy's lap, giving a wild smirk as his fingers reached one of the sandwiches within, pulling it out with a laugh and scooting away while shoving it in his mouth.

"Oi! Natsu!"

Smirk slowly turned into a smile while diving back towards Lucy, who give a little yelp and turned away, covering her lunchbox with her hand.

"Come on, Luce', I'm hungry!"

"Eat your own lunch then!"

Large arms in curled her waist, putting a forceful stop to her attempt at fleeing and squirming, Natsu's head fitting in the crook of Lucy's neck as if his chin and her shoulder were designed for each other.

"Already did. I want yours now."

"You're such a pig."

"Dragon, I'm a dragon."

"Sureee~, whatever."

"I'm the dragon, and you're the princess… and if the princess doesn't give the dragon her food the dragon just _might_ have to kidnap her."

Lucy laughed at his sentence, batting his hand away when he tried to dive at her food again.

"Is this dragon causing you trouble, Princess Lucy?"

Movements stopped at the sound of the new voice, both eyes falling on a topless teen that stood leaning on the wall of the school that ran along the walkway they were "eating" in.

"He's trying to take my food, Sir Gray!"

Shaking his head with a little smile playing on his features Gray moved slowly forward, hands in his pockets while Lucy squirmed more, Natsu's grip loosening so he could tickle her sides.

"Not even the Sir Gray the Ice-Princess can save you now!"

"Oi!"

Lucy's giggles from the tickles turned into a full blown laugh at Natsu's comment and the glare that Gray was now giving him, but this momentary lap in concentration allowed Natsu to sneak his hand into her lunch box once more, stealing the apple that had been rolling around in there.

"Hey! Natsu! Not fair!"

Natsu didn't reply, he simply smirked and took a large bite out of his new prize, chewing it slowly and Lucy heard her stomach give a loud growl.

"Stealing Lucy's food better not become a trend, Natsu."

Natsu suddenly stood upright, a bit of apple getting caught in his throat and causing him to cough, Gray giving him hard smack on the back, not to be helpful, just because he could. Eyes watering he glanced up at the scarlet haired woman before him.

"I – it won't, Erza!"

Lucy smiled before giving a contented sigh, in the end, meeting these three people she had met through an online roleplaying game was the best thing she had ever done. Or maybe it was just meeting that _one_ person, that was now giving his "rival" a death stare, was the best thing she had ever done.

-Fin-

* * *

_A/N: That's it everyone! As much as I would love to keep going I just dont have anything else to add that would make Online-Offline better without having to introduce more characters. I have an idea for a sequel, but I dont know how thats going to work out. But what I DO plan on doing is doing some little oneshots with other characters in this universe. I want to explore the relationships of Gray and Juvia, Erza and Jellal and Levy and Gajeel a little more so I will be writing those. This is Lucy and Natsu's story and thats why I havent added them in here. _

_Thank you all so much for your kind words and support, but I wanna give out some special thank yous;_

_**BabyBatGoth - **You were my first review of this story, and you've stuck through till the end, thank you so much and I hope you're felling well again!_

**_Mimichan55 - _**_You've been reading as long as BabyBatGoth has, and I wanna thank you for sticking with me too!_

**_LovingmyOTP's - _**_Thank you for your kind reviews! You've been fun to chat with!_

**_Rose. - _**_My new online little sister! Thank you Rose-Chan! I dont think I would have finished this if you hadnt have been PMing me this whole time, you gave me drive!_

_**Dunyahu **- You ended up coming in as I was finishing but your long review made me so happy!_**  
**

_**bookworm0313** - Thanks again for worrying about me!_

_See you all again, ne?_


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